Film / Shin Ultraman

"Have you become so fond of humans, Ultraman?"^note Pictured, From top to bottom: Shinji Kaminaga, Kimio Tamura, Hiroko Asami, Akihisa Taki, and Yumi Funaberi. Behind: Ultraman.

Asami: Answer me this. Are you an extraterrestrial, or a human being?
Kaminaga: I am both. Some things are only clear when you are in between.

Shin Ultraman (Japanese: シン・ウルトラマン) is an Ultra Series Tokusatsu film serving as the reimagination of the 1966 television series, Ultraman, created by Eiji Tsuburaya. In addition to Tsuburaya Productions, Toho and Studio Khara are also joint collaborators, with Toho being the prominent distributor. The film was made by the same people behind Shin Godzilla, as Shinji Higuchi served as director, Hideaki Anno as writer and producer, and Shirogumi on VFX.

In order to defend the country from "S-Class Species" attacks, the Japanese government establish the S-Class Species Supression Protocol (SSSP) team. However, despite early success, the SSSP and the military struggle to defeat later monster attacks. Fortunately, a gigantic humanoid extraterrestrial suddenly appears from the sky and defeats the monster by himself. The arrival of this mysterious extraterrestrial beyond human understanding, whom the SSSP dubbed "Ultraman", becomes an international news sensation and causes confusion and curiosity within the government. As part of the investigation on Ultraman, SSSP welcomes a new analyst Hiroko Asami to the team, where she is partnered with team strategist Shinji Kaminaga, who hides his secret connection with Ultraman. Meanwhile, Ultraman must deal with other extraterrestrials who are more adept at talking with the government and don't share Ultraman's desire to protect humanity.

The film was released in Japanese cinemas on May 13, 2022. The film was also set for a two-night engagement in United States theaters on January 11-12, 2023; and is set for a DVD and Blu-Ray release in the US by Cleopatra Entertainment. The English dub for the film was handled by Okratron 5000. Production of the film was planned since 2019, while the titular hero's Shin design was unveiled in December 14, 2019. The official Japanese site is available here.

Tsuburaya also released Shin Ultra Fight, a series of short films. Similar to the Ultra Fight miniserieses, these videos depict Ultraman's battles from Shin Ultraman, as well as original versions of said fights, with a commentary track. Director Higuchi serves as supervisor for this miniseries.

A few months before release, it was announced that this film, along with Shin Godzilla, Rebuild of Evangelion and Shin Kamen Rider, would form what has been referred to in promotional materials as the Shin Japan Heroes Universe, a loosely-connected series tied together by the involvement of Hideaki Anno. Though it's unclear what form this will take, all four involved companies have promised that there will be more to come.

For another reimagining of Ultraman, see Ultraman: The Next and its connected series Ultraman Nexus.

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Shin Ultraman contains examples of:

• Accent Adaptation: In the English dub, Ultraman and Zoffy possess British accents. Everyone else, including the extraterrestrials Zarab and Mefilas, have American accents.
• Adaptation Amalgamation: Each of the film's five episodic acts are based on five episodes of the original series: Episode 3 (Neronga), 9 (Gabora), 18 (Zarab), 33 (Mefilas), and 39 (Zetton). The story, both as a whole and within each act, also includes elements of other Ultraman episodes. For example:
  • The Neronga and Gabora arcs incorporate elements from Episode 1, with Ultraman arriving on Earth to deal with Neronga (instead of Bemular), and the establishment of Ultraman's power limit.
  • The battle against Zarab includes elements of the Alien Baltan episodes, with Zarab getting sliced in half by Ultraman's Ultra Slash, the same fate suffered by the second Alien Baltan. Also, like in Episode 2, the Zarab arc also introduces Spacium, the element that Ultraman uses in his attacks and other abilities.
  • Over the course of the film, Taki, the team's version of Ide of the original series, undergoes Ide's doubts about himself and his team from Episode 37, "The Small Hero".
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Notably seen with the Ultra beings featured:
  • In exchange for losing the Color Timer (i.e. the light indicating Ultraman losing power), Ultraman's red stripes instead diminish to either a green or outright grey coloring.
  • Zoffy himself sports a gold-and-black stripes coloring, instead of being the same color scheme as Ultraman, as a reference to an early concept art of Ultraman Great by Tohl Narita titled "Ultraman Divine Change". This is likely tied to his Adaptational Villainy, as seen below.
• Adaptational Backstory Change:
  • The Katokutai is formed in response to the appearance of several giant lifeforms seen in Ultra Q, and are involved in the neutralization of Kaigel and Pagos. While the connection between Ultra Q and Ultraman was made in extra materials, this film directly grafts "Shin Ultra Q" into the backstory of Shin Ultraman.
  • In the original series' first episode "Operation Ultra 01", Ultraman was pursuing Bemular, both in the form of large colored orbs, when the former collided with Shin Hayata's aircraft, leaving Hayata on the brink of death and forcing Ultraman to give the human his life force. In this film, Ultraman makes landfall to stop Neronga, the impact sending debris crashing into Kaminaga as he protects a civilian. Unlike with Hayata, when this Ultraman ties his life force to Shinji, this creates a "second Shinji" that serves as Ultraman's human identity, while also leaving the original Shinji's body behind in the forest where he died.
• Adaptational Badass: For the following characters, although it is Played With.
  • The final threat turns out to be Zetton, turned into a Kill Sat. Despite becoming inanimate, its firepower has been increased considerably such that he actually threatens blowing up the whole solar system, not just a specific headquarters.
  • The title character himself counts, in the end. In the original series, Ultraman actually loses to Zetton, requiring the SSSP to fight him with their anti-gravity missile. Here, however, while he does lose the first time, the SSSP provides Ultraman with support, studying his Beta System thesis and coming up with a viable strategy: have Ultraman ignite the Beta Capsule a second time to allow Ultraman to open a six-dimensional hole for Zetton's terakelvin projectile. Ultraman thus fights Zetton head-on the second time, successfully causing it to implode into the six-dimensional hole—at the cost of his life, due to failing to escape.
• Adaptational Context Change: Applied to Mefilas' sudden halting his fight against Ultraman. In Episode 33, he stopped because he recognized his failure to claim Earth, though without much of a sensible explanation. In this film, he stops after seeing Zōffy watching them over Ultraman's shoulder, recognizing the futility of pursuing his plans to claim Earth.
• Adaptational Intelligence: Largely applicable to the members of the Big Bad Ensemble:
  • First, Zarab. While the circumstances of his attempt to sway the Japanese government still involves trying to deceive them into treating Ultraman as a threat (including kidnapping the human host), he does so with a number of simpler yet more plausible steps compared to the original. His Imitation Ultraman disguise, for that matter, is near-foolproof accurate that his attempt at discrediting Ultraman is more believable than the original show's design.
  • Second, Mefilas. To his credit, he improves on Zarab's initial idea. Instead of trying to deceive a child and hold a city hostage by brainwashing an SSSP member into becoming a giant, Mefilas actively presents as a Human Alien, once again claiming to be a benevolent alien establishing First Contact. He also pointedly doesn't try to antagonize Ultraman directly, instead twisting the idea of Humans As Special as justification towards turning them into giants that will eventually become kaiju, like him and Ultraman. He also smartly retreats when he realizes a bigger threat, Zoffy and Zetton, has come for Earth.
• Adaptational Name Change: Subtle case with Zoffy. The film uses the spelling of Zōfi (ゾーフィ) instead of the original Zofī (ゾフィー), as a nod to the mistaken magazine articles naming him as the final villain in the original series' finale.
• Adaptational Nonsapience: In the original series, Zetton is a bio-weapon with enough intelligence to follow its late master's orders. In this movie, it is an inanimate Kill Sat controlled by Zoffy and is thus reduced to having no intelligence whatsoever (though it can still utter its own name).
• Adaptational Villainy: Zoffy of all characters is the final threat of the film, with him distrusting humans enough to the point that he nearly destroys Earth with the Ultras' superweapon, Zetton, and threatens to have our Ultraman prosecuted for breaking laws of the Planet of Light. Also applicable to the Planet of Light, as Zoffy is acting upon their decision. Luckily, he gets nicer once Ultraman proves humanity isn't deserving of being destroyed, even though it was more a case of Just Following Orders.
• Adaptational Wimp: The Katokutai. Unlike their original-series counterpart, this enforcement unit is a handful of government workers, not paramilitary forces who are expected to fight. When military power is needed against a Kaiju, the Katokutai direct the SDF as needed.
• Adapted Out: Some elements from the original series don't appear in this film. For example:
  • As stated below in Art Evolution, Ultraman has no Color Timer, as a return to Tohl Narita's original vision of the character in his 1983 painting "Incarnation of Truth and Beauty".
  • Ultraman does not yell out his iconic "Schwatch!" voice line, or any vocalization of the sort in his Light-lander form. Zarab and Mefilas make no such utterances, either. However, in Shin Ultra Fight, Ultraman and Mefilas do use their original vocalizations underneath the running commentary.
  • The Ultraman theme song is replaced with a newer song, because the lyrics from the original don't really match up with this incarnation (e.g. this Ultraman no longer has a "meteor"/Color Timer on his chest^note though the SSSP members do get their own "meteors" in the form of their star-shaped lapel pins, the SSSP don't use jet planes or unusual guns).
  • There's no equivalent to the character Hoshino in this film, since it wouldn't make sense to have a kid involved with a Japanese government agency. Also, there's no equivalent to Arashi.
• A God I Am Not: In Kaminaga's farewell letter to the SSSP, he rejects the notion of Ultraman being anything more than mortal.
  Kaminaga: One more thing. Ultraman is not some omnipotent god. He's a living organism, just like you. Still growing, still learning.
• Aliens Speaking English: Well, they all speak Japanese in this case. Although in Zarab's case, Translator Microbes explicitly play a part, allowing him to speak any language.
• Ambiguous Situation:
  • How much of Shinji Kaminaga's consciousness is affecting Ultraman throughout the film. He claims to Mefilas that Shinji's will compels him to stop the Extraterrestrial's plot. Later, when Zōffy confronts Ultraman-as-Shinji in the forest, Ultraman explains what the human Kaminaga had done when he had first landed, saying that "I wish to understand him [Shinji]."
  • Among a few of Zarab's claims, he explains that his job is to eradicate the dominant species of a planet that has a "marker" discovered on it. It's not known who placed the marker on Earth, as the only possible culprit is Mefilas, whose goals would contradict with Zarab's.
  • What happened to Ultraman at the end of the movie. Since Zoffy apparently honored his request to leave both his life and his body to Kaminaga, it's unclear if he was Killed Off for Real or if he can still be revived.
• An Aesop:
  • People's opinions on heroes can turn at a moment's notice. Shortly after his first sightings, Ultraman is regarded with awe, but Zarab's impersonation of him turns government opinion against him and, to an extent, the Katokutai on account of Ultraman being one of their members. Then, once the massive Zetton appears over Japan, several people call the SSSP office, desperate to get them to have Ultraman take care of it.
  • Sometimes it's better to just talk things out rather than simply taking action. Ultraman's first interactions with the Extraterrestrials involves coming into contact and listening to their reasoning. Ultraman's second attack against Zetton would not have worked out unless Hiroko had had him speak with Akihisa Taki about the human-formulated Beta Capsule strategy; Akihisa, for that matter, wouldn't have completed that strategy without talking with the world's greatest minds. Ultraman's final encounter with Zoffy is a discussion between the two Light-landers, with Zoffy ultimately granting Ultraman's wish to save Shinji Kaminaga.
• Anti-Climax: Because of the structure of the opening montage, any battles between the JSDF and the Kaiju are either truncated to one camera shot of battle or no camera shots of battle at all. For example, the Mammoth Flower is viewed in four shots: two establishing the monster, and two immediately after showing it dead and falling apart, with only the on-screen text divulging what had happened.
  • Ultraman's fight with Mefilas, after being built up as Ultraman's antithesis and their battle of ideals, their fight barely lasts three minutes. Mefilas doesn't even have the decency to get himself blown up, once he sees Zoffy and realizes the planet is doomed anyway, he bows out, just like in the original show.
• Art Evolution: Played With. The Ultraman is portrayed with a sleeker◊ design◊ which notably lacks a raised back fin, "tears ducts" at the eyes,^note both affordances of Tokusatsu costume design for entering and seeing in the costume, respectively and a Color Timer. It is actually meant to be portrayed as close to his original design by Tohl Narita as possible. Specifically, inspiration was pulled from a 1983 painting◊ entitled "Incarnation of Truth and Beauty." The same aesthetics apply to Zoffy, the other Ultra-being appearing in the film, with a dash of Adaptation Dye-Job.
  • Ultraman's appearance changes subtly in the beginning. In his first appearance during Neronga's rampage, Ultraman appears almost completely silver, with his red stripes already turned gray, and his head shares its shape and proportions with the first version of the original Ultraman's costume, the Type-A mask. Ultraman's subsequent appearances see his face shift closer to the Type-B and Type-C masks in later episodes of the original series and onward, while his red stripes return to their full color. All versions of his head also look less like costume helmets and more like his head, with the size and proportions generally lining up with a human's head. They even incorporate the light switch in the Ultraman mask's right ear, fusing it into Ultraman's head.
  • Neronga and Gabora display more animalistic behavior, visibly distancing from the People in Rubber Suits approach while retaining the suit designs.
  • The third promotional video reveals Zarab to have a smaller face closer to Tohl Narita's original Tiny-Headed Behemoth design, and also has No Mouth instead of his usual Lamprey Mouth—or rather, his Lamprey Mouth is now blended in with the rest of his face so that it's effectively invisible when he's not using it.
  • Gomess, infamously created by modifying a Godzilla suit, appears in a montage with other Ultra Q kaiju with a character model that's clearly a modified Shin Godzilla model.
  • Mefilas' design has been given perhaps the most extensive redesign. No longer he is of a somewhat chubby constitution, but given a sleeker, thinner body. His head has been reworked completely: He has smaller more cat-like ears, the iconic blue eyes have been fused into a U-like visor. The silver mustache like apparatus above the yellow speaking organ has been excised. Said speaking spot itself has been given a smoother, smaller and more V-like shape put directly below the eye. His silver "beard"-like design now resembles something like a metallic mink collar that goes up to his chest.
  • The design of the Katokutai's meteor-shaped emblem has been updated from a lineart design to a set of solid red and blue shapes.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The film establishes that several Kaiju are appearing on Earth—specifically, in Japan (which at least one character comments on)—causing destruction and mayhem wherever they attack. Asami herself is ironically subjected to being the cause of one by Mefilas and his Beta System, in a ploy to get humans to establish contact with his species and turn them into giants as well.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Zarab gives his reasons for wiping out humanity; they're uncivilized, they destroy their planet's resources, and they breed too much.
• Bittersweet Ending: Ultraman successfully destroys Zetton and saves humanity, but sacrifices his life to revive Shinji Kaminaga. Zoffy sees the same potential and worth in humankind as Ultraman did, and so departs with his subordinate's body. Lastly, Shinji wakes up for the first time since the Neronga rampage, surrounded by his SSSP teammates, though whether he actually remembers being Ultraman due being linked to him or not like in the original series is unknown.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: Thanks to the use of CGI, the alien-ness of Ultraman and the enemies he fights in this film are emphasized in ways that tokusatsu suits could not.
  • Gabora possesses head petals and internal drill-like organs that can freely rotate 360 degrees without any noticeable discomfort or pain. Kaigel the snail Kaiju also possesses more conventional drill-like appendages in its shell that it uses for burrowing.
  • Zarab's true form appears to have the back of his body completely missing, revealing an empty carapace devoid of any visible organs or skeleton to speak of.
  • Like always, Mefilas has a yellow-speaking organ instead of a mouth. It glows when the alien speaks and it almost seems like an artificial, electrical addition to the body. He can also able to open half of his palms at will. He also possesses a single visor-like eye, rather than two more ordinary eyes.
• The Bus Came Back: A sizeable chunk of the monsters that appear in the film have gone without appearances for variable amounts of time; these range from franchise regulars such as Gomess, which appear every other entry or so, to Gabora, which hasn't reappeared since Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero in 1993, to monsters from Ultra Q such as Goga (referred to as Kaigel here) and Larugeus, which haven't made another appearance since their debut, over 50 years ago.
• Censored for Comedy: After the SSSP's data stores are wiped from alien interference, Funaberi snaps and says she's "going to *** them!" for destroying her work, complete with bleep. Taki is taken aback and responds "Me too...?" in English.
• Chekhov's Gun: Asami laments after contacting Kaminaga that she really wanted to take a bath before meeting up with him with the other SSSP team. As it turns out, smell is the only sensory aspect that Mefilas failed to account for when hiding his Beta Box. Having been previously affected by it when Mefilas turned her into a giant, Asami's scent is memorized by Kaminaga to pinpoint the box's location and steal it.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: During Neronga's rampage, Shinji Kaminaga spots on a drone feed a little kid who was left behind in the evacuation. He immediately volunteers to rescue the kid, and Tamura gives him the go-ahead. This decision ends with Shinji Kaminaga dying when Ultraman lands in the area, sending debris flying at him.
• Computer-Generated Images: For the most part, Ultraman and the appearing Kaiju and aliens are all rendered in CGI, with actors using motion capture instead of rubber tokusatsu suits, emphasizing how alien these beings are on Earth. In comparison, Shin Godzilla was created with a combination of both props and CGI. That said, physical props were still employed in the process as they were in Shin Godzilla, but Shin Ultraman has more special effects shots than Shin Godzilla did. Though keeping with Shin Godzilla, the look of the VFX is done in a way to actually resemble the suits' rubbery appearance while mixing in the fluidity of the CGI format.
  • Motion capture for Neronga and Gabora involved the mo-cap actor having a weight attached to their waist, resulting in both Kaiju having relatively slower, more labored movement. Also, to better convey Gabora using its head petals as a drill, the mo-cap actor had a four-legged stool on their head!
• Creator Thumbprint: Producer Hideaki Anno's influence can be seen as far back as the first trailer, in the composition of Ultraman's first appearance: namely, the industrial power line supports that stand between the camera and Ultraman, which doubles as a visual reference to compare Ultraman's height to.
  • Another Anno staple appears in the prologue montage, which features overlays of newspaper-header and character-information text over the footage and pictures of Kaiju and the SSSP membership.
• Crucified Hero Shot: Befitting an Ultra Series work directed by Hideaki Anno, this film employs messianic imagery in its work:
  • Ultraman spreads his arms out as he absorbs Gabora's radioactive Breath Weapon, forming a crucified shape as he advances towards the kaiju.
  • In addition to being a homage towards the original Zetton's signature pose of standing with its arms outstretched, this film's incarnation of Zetton orbits Earth with its "legs" together, giving it the silhouette of a cross.
• Decomposite Character: Unlike in the original series, the purpose of the SSSP is specifically for creating and managing Kaiju countermeasures, with assistance from both the JSDF and US military. The counter-alien purpose is relegated to a separate Counter-Extraterrestrial group, which interferes with the SSSP when Zarab as Imitation Ultraman starts wreaking havoc, preventing their dispatch order.
• Deconstructor Fleet: Par for the course in the Shin series, this film deconstructs many elements of the Ultraman series.
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever:
    • The destruction wreaked by the Monster of the Week depends on said Monster's intelligence. Neronga and Gabora plow through towns and countryside to get want they want. Zarab causes destruction while posing as Ultraman to paint him in a bad light. Mefilas only has the gigantified Asami deal one blow to a building and freeze before kicking over another; later, he engages Ultraman in an industrial facility, far from the city.
    • Being turned into a giant in a very public fashion, especially in the age of mobile phones and social media, means records of that person on a rampage is unlikely to disappear online—much to Asami's embarrassment and horror. This was later subverted when Mefilas removes nearly all of it in a literal Hand Wave as a sign of "good will".
  • Badass Crew: Unlike with previous Ultraman series, Shin Ultraman does not have a special forces group of five people. Rather, as in Shin Godzilla, the human efforts against the attacking Kaiju are made up of two separate groups working together: the Japanese military (the "Badass"), and a government task force managing them and other resources such as local power plants (the SSSP/Katokutai, the "Crew").
  • Beware the Superman: Granted, the "Superman" in this context is still a benevolent being. Instead of instantaneous acceptance, Ultraman himself is treated with apprehension and even concern that he could be a greater threat than the Kaiju, much like how Ultraman Nexus was treated by the Night Raiders as a possible threat. It gets to the point that a plan to terminate Ultraman is drawn up by the government. At least one character who is aware of Shinji Kaminaga's connection to Ultraman questions his humanity by asking him, "Are you the red giant/alien [Ultraman]? Or are you human?" This is spoken over footage of Shinji being slapped by Hiroko, who looks visibly betrayed. Additional footage from the Public commemorative special video has Hiroko accusing Shinji of deceiving the SSSP. Given that this Shinji is actually Ultraman himself, who is borrowing the man's appearance following his accidental death during the battle against Neronga, Hiroko's reaction is rather justified.
  • Destructive Savior: Ultraman's first appearance soon shows that causing collateral damage can have serious consequences, when the impact of his arrival results in Shinji's death. This later helps Zarab's False Flag Operation, using his Imitation Ultraman form to cause destruction and paint Ultraman as a malevolent extraterrestrial.
  • Fusion Dance: The film treats Ultraman's merging with Shinji Kaminaga differently from the original series. Where as Shin Hayata retained his sense of self while not transformed into Ultraman, this film's Ultraman is the dominant personality within Shinji Kaminaga, largely due to the disparity between the red giant and the human. Also, when Ultraman's human identity is exposed to the public, Ultraman being a member of the Katokutai hampers his ability to cooperate freely with them.
  • Monster of the Week: This movie asks the simple question, that most media barely seem to acknowledge: "If extraterrestrial life and megafauna attacked Earth weekly, what would this say for human society and their reactions to this development?" In this case, the aliens are very much acknowledged as having the upper hand in tech. The two recent Kaiju, Neronga and Gabora, are able to tank manmade weapons and/or destroy them before they damage the monster, to the point that the final opponent's arrival makes the populace just continue with their daily lives, long used to constant monstrosities dwelling among humans. It seems only Ultraman can save humanity from these cosmic horrors. It is also explained why mankind receives constant attacks: the extraterrestrials either want our world without mankind or want to use us as some sort of resource. Defeating Zetton all but ensures extraterrestrial interest in, and fear of, Earth and humankind.
  • Sufficiently Advanced Aliens: As much as Ultraman, Zarab, and Mefilas exhibit godlike abilities, they are still lifeforms capable of failure. In the cases of Zarab, Mefilas, and Ultraman's superior Zōffy, they fail to reconcile their worldviews with humanity's place in the multiverse. Zarab merely sees humans as an extermination job. Mefilas enjoys what human culture has created, such as recreational activities and foods, but ultimately he sees humans themselves as a resource. The Planet of Light, the homeworld of Ultraman and Zōffy, sees humans as an easily-swayed, dangerous threat to multiversal peace, especially in light of their compatibility with the Beta System. This extends to practical limitations on the Extraterrestrials' godlike powers: Zarab can manipulate digital information and technology, but he cannot tamper with analog media such as film negatives; and Mefilas can wipe images off of the Internet, but cannot get rid of Asami's scent from the Beta Box he used on her.
  • Transformation Sequence: When Shinji Kaminaga becomes Ultraman, there is no series-traditional rise sequence, at least not as of the third and final trailers. Instead, Ultraman manifests in realistic ways, such as erupting from inside a building, destroying it.^note Granted, this also occurred in the original series. By their two last fights against Zetton, Shinji and the SSSP seems to have wised up to it—and they have taken to sending off Shinji to transform into Ultraman at the top of the building, so there's no vertical obstacle to his growing. Shinji and Ultraman, for that matter, seems to immediately launch to the air after transformation in order to prevent any further property damage within the vicinity. The rise sequence finally occurs in the final battle, before his second strike against Zetton.
• Democracy Is Flawed: A bit downplayed compared to Shin Godzilla, but still there.
  • The highest officials of the Japanese government are still easily swayed/fooled by smart/manipulative aliens (such as Zarab and Mefilas), who pose as aliens wishing to share technology and demonize Ultraman as seeking to conquer Earth (when that's exactly what they're doing).
  • The Japanese public, in a critique of the contemporary disinformation environment, are also shown to be unable to distinguish beyond what's being posted online and what's really happening—be it the identity of Ultraman or why exactly a woman grew to be a giant. This is later played for Dramatic Irony—because of so many crazy things happening in the past days, they've grown desensitized to Zetton's appearance in the sky, when it finally poses a very real danger to Earth.
  • At the same time, it portrays the bureaucracy and the military as having taken a level in competence since the events of Shin Godzilla—with the SSSP, despite its limited resources, never experiencing too much bureaucratic interference/clashing with other government offices. The higher-up politicians, of course, are a different matter.
• Destructive Savior: Part of the reason the human characters are wary of Ultraman is his tendency to cause destruction whilst fighting the Kaiju, such as firing a Specium Beam through a hilly forest or leaving behind a swath of the city ablaze. In Ultraman's defense, it turns out the second one was Zarab impersonating him—who Ultraman eventually defeats very publicly.
• Giant Equals Invincible: Played with Five of the six Kaiju of the prologue are defeated by the JSGDF's firepower, as well as unconventional solutions. Starting with Neronga, almost nothing humans have can land so much as a scratch on the Kaiju, which prompts Ultraman to land on Earth.
  • Enforced with people using the Beta System. The enlargement/projection process homogenizes one's atomic makeup and replaces it with a single indestructible material. Not a single hair can be cut from a person using the Beta System.
• Giant Robot Hands Save Lives: Not with a literal robot, but the same effect is achieved when Ultraman catches Asami after she is thrown upwards from Zarab's hand in their fight. He's careful to match and slow her fall down, using both hands to be sure. Justified she survived a the fall as well given he puts her on the ground in the same movement, as well as with the use of Spacium-133, the gravity-manipulating element that composes Ultraman's entire body.
• Giant Woman: Mefilas uses the Beta Box to turn Hiroko Asami into an Ultraman-sized giant. When the masses catch sight of her on their phones, she becomes an Internet sensation despite being remotely controlled by Mefilas and showing a creepy blank expression while huge. When Asami is transformed back to normal, she learns what had happened to her and is mortified.
• Gratuitous English: Yumi occasionally uses it.
  Yumi: [in Japanese] I also... [slinks back in chair; in English] I have no idea.
  (Tamura looks at her)
• Green Aesop: Mefilas briefly mentions that not all of the Kaijus were awoken by him. Some of them were awoken by humanity's destruction of the environment.
• Gone Horribly Right: Mefilas' plan to turn humans into a resource involved luring a Light-lander to Earth. He probably didn't expect to have gotten the attention of a second Light-lander, Zoffy, whose presence prompts Mefilas to abandon his plan and leave.
• Government Agency of Fiction: The film's Katokutai is a subordinate unit to the Japanese Disaster Preservation Agency, a fictional Japanese government agency.
• Henshin Hero: As seen in the third promotional video, Shinji Kaminaga uses the Beta Capsule to transform into Ultraman. Zig-Zagged in that it looks more like Ultraman's giant hand grabs Shinji before rising. Also Zig-Zagged in that this Shinji is actually Ultraman in Shinji's form, meaning he's transforming back into his Ultra-being form.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Ultraman pulls off two in the end. First, he creates a black hole to neutralize Zetton, taking himself with it. After Zoffy pulls him out of the hole and insists on taking him back, Ultraman convinces Zoffy to gives his life force to Shinji Kaminaga, bringing him to life while resulting in Ultraman's death.
• Human Aliens: Mefilas has a human form, portrayed by Koji Yamamoto, that allows him to interact with people.
• Humans Are Special: The whole conflict of the movie revolves around extraterrestrial civilizations discovering humanity's potential in particular, their compatibility with Beta technology, and reacting with either sympathy or fear:
  • Ultraman takes the most compassionate stance, choosing to believe in humanity's positive traits, such as their ingenuity. After spending time among humans, he empathizes with them both as individuals and as a society, and chooses to protect them.
  • Zarab is on the other end, deciding that humans aren't special. If anything, Humans Are Insects to him, a local scourge he's been tasked with eliminating, which he treats with all the same dispassion as bug exterminator scoping out a colony before stamping them out.
  • Mefilas intellectually recognizes humanity's potential, and indeed sets up a Batman Gambit to show the intergalactic community that they're a nascent resource that can be weaponized with Beta technology. Despite admiring human culture, it's ultimately a Condescending Compassion that treats humans as "valuable pets" or living weapons.
  • Finally Zoffy decides that Humans Are Bastards, a warlike race that would destabilize galactic society if left unchecked thanks to their ability to transform with Beta technology. In other words, to him, humans are special because they're too dangerous.
• I Choose to Stay: Ultraman tells Zoffy that he intends to remain on Earth to give humanity even the slightest chance to survive Kaiju attacks and Extraterrestrial manipulations. Though Zoffy insists that Ultraman must come with him, he is ultimately convinced to give Ultraman's life force to Shinji.
• Identical Twin ID Tag: Much like in the past, Zarab's impersonation of Ultraman can be differentiated by the pointier ends of his eyes, which look similar to Zarab's own hexagonal eyes. What is different, however, is that everything else about his impersonation of Ultraman is near-accurate, which helps sell his False Flag Operation that Ultraman is as much a threat to humanity as the other Kaiju. Thus, Ultraman needs to come out and fight him head-on to prove his innocence, with him unmasking Zarab publicly in the ensuing battle.
• Ignorance Is Bliss: After Ultraman fails to destroy Zetton the first time, the Japanese goverment decides to not publicize it to anyone else, be it the population or other governments, so that humanity will spent their last days happy before Zetton wipe them out.
• Inspector Javert: This is the kindest we can characterize Zoffy's Adaptational Villainy. His attempt at training the Zetton Kill Sat on Earth is him preventing humanity from getting more involved in intergalactic affairs they have no business dealing with. Ultraman, to his credit and through his Heroic Sacrifice, manages to make Zoffy back off from attacking Earth.
• Invisibility:
  • Neronga possesses the ability to make itself invisible. That said, it's not perfect invisibility, as its shape is still evident amidst its movement and its eyes remain visible. The SSSP even point out the massive dust cloud that Neronga kicks up, and speculate that its invisibility is not for stealth, but to No-Sell beam weaponry by allowing them to pass through its body.
  • Zarab can also make himself and other people invisible, which he uses to kidnap Shinji. He usually prefers to only reveal the front of his body, leaving his back invisible.
• Kaiju: Par on being the Ultra Series norm, giant monsters known as Kaiju are appearing on Earth and causing havoc. It's up to the SSSP, the military, and Ultraman to stop them, though Kaiju are not the only kind of threat they must contend with as the Extraterrestrials arrive.
• Kill and Replace: A purely accidental case started by Ultraman, whose meteoric arrival on Earth killed Shinji Kaminaga. Because he still needs to counter any future Kaiju attacks on his watch, Ultraman takes Shinji's physical form and his identity via merging—an act that is forbidden by the Planet of Light—in order to cooperate with the SSSP. Somehow, Ultraman's method of this preserves Shinji's body until the latter's revival at the end of the movie.
• Kill Sat: Zetton is reimagined as one belonging to the Land of Light, which Zoffy brings to Earth out of distrust for humanity and a belief they cannot fix their kaiju infestation themselves. The combined efforts of human technology and planning and Ultraman's self-sacrifice to stop Zetton convinces Zoffy to stand down.
• Lampshaded the Obscure Reference: Downplayed since the references themselves aren't really obscure, but the SSSP chief is called out by Tamura for making "old" references when he describes the giant Asami as a combination of Sleeping Beauty and Gulliver's Travels.
• Light Is Not Good: The final antagonist, Zōffy, is an extraterrestrial from the Planet of Light, just like Ultraman. However, unlike Ultraman, Zōffy—and the Planet of Light—is closer to this trope, though not outright. He's not evil, but he's enacting the decision by the Planet of Light to eradicate humankind because they deem it the best course to maintaining multiversal peace.
• Lighter and Softer: Despite being more realistic than the source material, the film simultaneously leans more towards this trope, especially when compared with Shin Godzilla and the devastation wrecked upon Japan in that movie. Despite the fact that the story actually ends quite bittersweet, i.e. Ultraman has to engage in a Heroic Sacrifice to stop Zetton, revive Shinji to life and convince Zoffy to stand down, the film ends on a pretty hopeful note—with Zoffy finally appreciating humanity's potential and being worthy of protection, no further damages were wreaked by the kaiju, and the original Shinji wakes up surrounded by his comrades at the SSSP.
• Lovecraft Lite: Surprisingly enough. The movie deconstructs the whole idea about different aliens invading Earth at almost a weekly basis. Showing that they have tech that makes humanity seem prehistoric. Able to alter reality, teleport casually and change size and physics as a whole. Collectively speaking, aliens trivialize mankind's defensive efforts and research to understand them. It almost seems as if only benevolent Ultramen can protect Earth effectively. The fact that the lead scientist in the SSSP seems to become a little...concerned over this, is a hallmark of Cosmicism and man's insignificance in relation to life in the cosmos.
  Taki Akihisa: All the knowledge that humanity has accumulated up to now, amounts to nothing more than common sense to extraterrestrials.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Like Shin Godzilla, the "Shin" prefixing Ultraman in the title can vary in its meaning depending on the Kanji used to represent it. Two of which is "new" (新) and "true" (真) representing that this incarnation of Ultraman is a newer version of the original, one that is closer to the original draft (for example, Ultraman lacking a Color Timer on his chest and instead having his time manifested on Earth dictated by losing the red in his design, which was beyond the capabilities of VFX at the time).
    • The film also gives us two examples of "Shin" meaning "death" (死). First, Shinji Kaminaga dies when Ultraman first lands during Neronga's rampage, sending debris into Kaminaga's back. When Ultraman finds Shinji's body, he takes on the dead man's appearance. Second, at the end of the film, Ultraman gives his life force to Shinji, dying so that Shinji returns to life.
    • On a different note, "Shin" could be interpreted as the English word "sin". Zoffy states that Ultraman's merging with Shinji is a grave violation of the Planet of Light's Code.
  • It is rather apt that the surname of Ultraman's human host is Kaminaga (神永), with kami (神) meaning "god" and naga (永) meaning "eternity". This makes his name roughly translate to "eternal God", which fits the messianic imagery associated with Ultraman. Humanity eventually sees Ultraman as a "god" of sorts, though Ultraman himself would disagree with that assessment.
  • Ultraman's real name, Lipiah, is a reference to the Lippia genus of flowers, which symbolise bonds, honesty and understanding—words which describe the first Ultraman very well. Lippia are known to be invasive species due to their rapid propagation, but also offer gardens with protection against soil erosion and weeds by acting as a groundcover, echoing Ultraman's status as an alien being who protects humanity against kaiju and other extraterrestrials. However, in a rare occurrence, this is actually completely unintentional! Word of God is that the name was actually chosen specifically to defy this trope. Another name was originally in the script, but was changed at the suggestion of Hideaki Anno to something that was intended to be totally linguistically alien.
• Messianic Archetype: Despite humanity's mistrust of him, Ultraman—and by extension, Shinji his host—never ceases to fight monsters and alien manipulators on humanity's behalf. This ultimately enables the SSSP to help him defeat the Zetton Kill Sat brought about by Zoffy—even as it ends with his Heroic Sacrifice / his life force running out to revive Shinji's human life—not unlike the most recent take on Superman in the DC Extended Universe^note Man of Steel having notably played up Superman's Destructive Savior tendencies in his fight with Zod, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice needing Superman's Heroic Sacrifice before humanity finally realizes he is Good All Along, but it certainly carries the spirit of the original Superman movie. It's probably appropriate to note that franchise creator Eiji Tsuburaya was a practicing Roman Catholic in his later years, and the subtext is infused in later Ultraman stories.
• My Card: This is how Mefilas introduces himself in his human form, semi-formally holding out his business card with one hand, with his name and position as Plenipotentiary on it.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The film's tagline, "Have you become so fond of humans, Ultraman?", is a line from the finale of the original Ultraman spoken by Zoffy when Ultraman asked to sacrifice his own life in exchange for Hayata to live. Zoffy himself says the line in the film proper when Ultraman asks to sacrifice his life in exchange for Shinji's, as a remark that Ripia has changed during his time on Earth.
  • The film opens with a screenful of swirling paint that reconstitutes to form the Shin Godzilla title card, before immediately turning into Shin Ultraman. This is much like the original show's own intro, which was footage of a screenful of swirling paint being played in reverse to reveal the Ultra Q logo, before a flash of red turns that into the Ultraman title card. The card even includes the subtitle "Fantasy Tokusatsu Film" (空想特撮映画 kuusou tokusatsu eiga), similar to the original series' "Fantasy Tokusatsu Series" (空想特撮シリーズ kuusou tokusatsu shirīzu).
  • In the opening montage showing kaiju attacks prior to Ultraman getting involved, a series of Ultra Q kaiju are shown in a montage, starting with a Shin Godzilla-inspired take on Gomess, the first Ultra series kaiju. Additionally, the snail kaiju Goga is referred to by its original script draft name Kaigel.
  • When Ultraman first appears, his body is entirely silver, and his face is slightly asymmetrical and thin, with a slightly open mouth. This very closely resembles the first Ultraman's A-Type head design, and more specifically references his looks in the original stage show, before the series was picked up for TV.
  • Hiroko Asami is introduced walking to work with the camera focused on her back and shoulders while passersby talk about Neronga's attack yesterday. This is a recreation of a scene from the Ultraseven episode "The Targeted Town", where Dan listened in on passersby talking about the mysterious violent incidents the episode's villain caused.
  • Hiroko Asami is the film's equivalent to Akiko Fuji from the original series. Asami also shares her first name with Fuji's actress, Hiroko Sakurai. Amusingly, Asami shares Sakurai's displeasure of being turned into a Giant Woman by Mefilas, with Mefilas in the film sending Asami an apology.
  • Zarab wears a fedora and coat when human-sized, much like how the original Alien Zarab first appeared to the SSSP while disguised in a similar hat and cape. The fight between Ultraman and his Imitation Ultraman form also replicates a moment in Zarab's debut episode, where the suit actor of Ultraman accidentally hurt his hand while delivering a karate chop to Imitation Ultraman's head.
  • Mefilas presenting himself as an ambassador is likely a reference to Ambassador Mephisto, an Alien Mefilas from the Eiichi Shimizu manga.
  • Mefilas' Beta Box carries a red orb at its center when opened. The red orb, and the red crystal in Ultraman's Beta Capsule, bears a striking resemblance to the red Travel Sphere that Ultraman used in the original series.
  • Zoffy's Adaptational Villainy is inspired by magazines produced before the original show's finale that misinterpreted him as the show's final villain responsible for bringing Zetton to Earth.
  • Ultraman deflecting Zetton's beams by spinning was a reference to the intro fight in the animated short The Ultraman: Jackal vs Ultraman.
  • During the film's Darkest Hour, a factory, a river bank and the inside of a noodle shop are shown among the montage of humanity living their normal lives oblivious to the fact that Zetton is about to eradicate them. This is a reference to the Ultraseven episode "The Boy Who Cried Flying Saucer", where key events of the episode took place in those specific locations.
  • The film uses homophonous terms that mirror terms from the original Ultraman, but have different exact meanings. These include:
    • Kaiju: 禍威獣, meaning "powerful calamity beast" (normally 怪獣, "strange creature")
    • Katokutai^note SSSP: 禍特対, short for 禍威獣特設対策室専従班^note kaiju tokusetsu taisakushitsu senjuuhan, meaning "Kaiju Special Countermeasures Office, Specialized Team" (科特隊 in the original show, short for 科学特別捜査隊^note kagaku tokubetsu sousatsutai, meaning "Science Special Investigation Team")
  • Ultraman sets up his first Specium Beam in a manner similar to Ultraman Powered's: first holding up his right hand, then holding his left out to the side, before swinging it to his right hand, making a "+" shape.
• More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Neronga, the first Kaiju to appear in the trailer, has a jawful of teeth that he shows off when he roars. Gabora is also shown to possess this trait when he opens his mouth to fire his beam.
• Named by the Adaptation: Zoffy refers to Ultraman by his real name, Ripia.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Ultraman's initial landing in response to Neronga's rampage results in flying debris from the impact, one piece fatally striking Shinji Kaminaga nearby.
  • On a greater scale, Ultraman's presence from Neronga onwards plays into Mefilas' plans of making mankind feel insignificant and desperate, resulting in them considering dependence upon extraterrestrials.
• No-Sell:
  • Neronga fires its lightning beam at Ultraman, who not only shrugs it off, but walks straight through it without even budging. This shocks resident physicist Taki, because that electric blast is at the strength of about 500,000 kilowatts—far beyond what a human could take.
  • The MOP-2 bomb barrage that injured Godzilla in Shin Godzilla fails to even scratch Gabora.
  • Mefilas can slap away Ultraman's Ultra Slashes without any sign of injury.
  • Zetton is practically invincible to any attack Ultraman throws at him.
• No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: Discussed. When Alien Zarab wipes the SSSP's data, every single digital device has its internals fried, even the backups. Funaberi then reveals that due to protocol, the SSSP's data stores are a completely closed system, which means none of it was backed up in any capacity outside of their department, unlike the rest of the government and the military. She's understandably pissed.
• Not Hyperbole: Zetton's one trillion degree fireball. In the original series, it was just a normal fireball, with the name being a case of Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale. In this movie, however, it is exactly as powerful as its name implies.
• Not Using the "Z" Word: ZigZagged. According to the official synopsis, the Kaiju are referred to as kaiju, but use the homophonous 禍威獣, meaning "Powerful Calamity Beast" instead of the usual "strange creature" (怪獣). The film also translates the term to "S-Class Species" in English, as part of the SSSP acronym. Similarly, spoken dialogue in the third promotional video shows that aliens are referred to as "Extraterrestrials" (外星人, gaiseijin) instead of the usual "Alien" (宇宙人, uchūjin).
  • As it is later explained that the Powerful Calamity Beasts are bioweapons, the alternate term serves to distinguish them from the naturally-occurring kaiju in the main franchise, much like how Terrible-monsters are different from normal kaiju.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: During Hiroko Asami's gigantification and "stroll" through the city, she's seemingly blank-faced, not responding to Tamura's calls to her. She even shoves her elbow into a building without looking.
• Race Against the Clock: Ultraman's final attack against Zetton has a clock overlay on the bottom of the screen, reminiscent of a similar clock that appeared during Shinji and Asuka's synchronized final attack against Israfel. The twist is, in this sequence, Kaminaga/Ultraman activating his Beta Capsule allows him to move quickly enough that time slows down, reflected in the timer text actually slowing down as well. Kaminaga activates the Capsule at about T minus six seconds, activates it again once he's outside of Earth atmosphere at T minus 0.00099 seconds, and successfully smashes Zetton's shield and catches the projectile with his created six-dimensional hole at T minus 0.00007 seconds.
• Reconstruction: While the movie deconstructs elements of Ultraman, it still retains the feeling of hope, and in turn the spirit of Ultraman.
  • Humanity is shown to be outmatched with extraterrestrial threats and is desperate enough to accept bribes from aliens. When kaiju attacks become too frequent, the populace accepts it as a way of life. Nonetheless, humanity is determined enough to overcome any obstacles and save the day when given the chance and a little outside help.
  • Ultraman is initially presented as something so Alien that humans have a hard time understanding. He’s emotionless and humanity fears his power. To top it off, throughout the movie he was basically a walking weapon that humanity depended on. And yet, thanks to his interactions and bonds, Ultraman never forsakes his belief that all life, including humanity, has a right to coexist in the universe. By the end of the the movie, he succeeds in proving his superiors wrong and saving earth; all while giving his human host a second chance at life in exchange with his own, and ultimately being content with it all.
  • On a darker note, the film reconstructs the concept of alien abductions of humans. Mefilas' agreement with the Japanese government allows him to do as he pleases with them. And since Shinji Kaminaga and Hiroko Asami have both proven humanity's compatibility with the Beta System, Mefilas can offer humans to other extraterrestrials as bioweapons. It's only thanks to Ultraman, the SSSP, and (indirectly) Zōffy's interventions that this potential intergalactic human trafficking never comes to pass.
• Red Herring: The movie tries to imply that either one of the villains/monsters with a direct connection to Ultraman will be the Big Bad of the film: first Zarab, who actively sought approval from the Japanese government and tried to frame Ultraman for damaging a city, then Mefilas, who also tries to sway the Japanese government to accept alien technology that can turn humans into giants. In the end, neither truly holds a candle to Zoffy, Ultraman's superior, who has decided to unleash Zetton against humanity. Mefilas even pointedly leaves when he realizes Zoffy is the bigger threat not only to humanity, but to his fellow aliens as well.
• Secret Identity: The film explores what happens when Ultraman's civilian identity is exposed to the public, something that isn't delved into much in prior Ultraman series. After videos of Shinji Kaminaga transforming into Ultraman go live on the Internet, Kaminaga, after stopping Zarab, goes into hiding, with the SSSP being more understanding of his not coming to work. Various government agencies both national and international start searching for him, forcing Kaminaga and the SSSP to meet in out-of-the-way locations. When the government finally does confront him, they try to intimidate him into cooperating, saying that the SSSP's safety depends on his response.
• Setting Update: Just as Shin Godzilla is set in The New '10s-era Japan, Shin Ultraman transplants the plots of the original series into The New '20s-era Japan.
• Shot-for-Shot Remake: Downplayed. The battle between Ultraman and Imitation Ultraman features shots that match up very closely with shots from Zarab's debut episode, "Brother from Another Planet".
• Shout-Out:
  • This isn't the first time a character named Shinji has to bond with an alien lifeform in order to save the world. It also isn't the first time Shinji gets slapped across the face, though this time Ultraman-as-Shinji takes it a lot better.
  • Akihisa Taki has a whole host of models depicting vehicles from other science fiction properties in the SSSP office, including the Thunderbirds machines, The Alpha from Latitude Zero, the Mighty-Go from Mighty Jack and the USS Enterprise.
  • While the SSSP is devising a battle plan for Ultraman during the climax of the film, there's a close-up shot of a Kyubey mug being placed down on a desk.
• Skewed Priorities: Right after Ultraman defeats his second kaiju, the SSSP appears to suffer some kind of sabotage when the power goes out in their headquarters and their data is wiped. While Tamura and the others scramble to assess the situation and determine what could have caused it, Funaberi is too busy screaming about all the work she just lost.
  • Played for Drama with Zoffy and the Land of Light. Humanity suffering under alien exploitation is one thing, but they seem more concerned that if left to their own devices Humanity will become just like them. That's why they need to be erased.
• Skull for a Head: Gabora, one of the monsters shown in the first trailer, now has a skull-like visage with glowing red eyes hidden behind its head petals, a trait absent in its previous depictions. The same goes for Pagos, who is depicted as a composite of Gabora's skull face on Neronga's body in the film's early montage of kaiju attacks.
• Sorting Algorithm of Evil:
  • The threat level of the kaiju quickly escalates throughout the film; while the kaiju in the opening montage could be killed by conventional weaponry, Neronga and Gabora are depicted as invulnerable against anything humans can throw at it. There's a good reason for this, as Mefilas explains to Kaminaga that the kaiju based on Ultra Q monsters were sent out to test humanity's strength and provide intel, while Neronga and Gabora are "next generation" kaiju designed to make humanity despair by presenting an enemy they cannot defeat, which would pave the way for him to introduce the Beta Box and turn humanity into his bioweapons.
  • As the film progresses, the kaiju are phased out as the Extraterrestrials arrive, who are a lot more cunning and rely on mind games to cause impacts on a global scale. And then Zoffy arrives with Zetton, a Kill Sat that can wipe out the entire solar system, and becomes the main threat of the story.
• Spectacular Spinning: Ultraman can spin himself around in midair for combat. He first spins himself in a floating wheel kick to knock Gabora away from a nuclear storage facility. Later, against Zetton, he spins himself around to deflect the projectile barrage against him, then later spins in a corkscrew fashion as part of his final rising sequence attack to reach Zetton before it can fire its projectile.
• Stealth Sequel: The film offers hints suggesting that the Shin Japan Heroes Universe might be a Shared Universe with other live-action productions that Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi are involved with.
  • Despite not being advertised as a sequel to Shin Godzilla, various details in the film suggest that the movie is set in the same continuity, not counting the Mythology Gag that includes the Shin Godzilla title card in the beginning. Notably, one of the actors from Shin Godzilla, Yutaka Takenouchi, makes an appearance as a government representative signing an official agreement with Mefilas regarding the Beta Box technology. While his character is unnamed, only identified in the credits as "The Government Official", it's possible that he is meant to be Hideki Akasaka.
• Stuka Scream: Imitation Ultraman is knocked into the sky by a Spacium Beam, and as he plummets into a building the Stuka Scream is audible. Ultraman is knocked out of the sky during the air chase and makes the same sound.
• Sufficiently Advanced Alien: Discussed. Extraterrestrials such as Zarab and Mefilas have capabilities way beyond human understanding (e.g. both can manipulate digital data without much more than a wave of their hands) and humans end up having to rely on Ultraman for their safety as if they worship him, leading to the human characters talking about how godlike the Extraterrestrials are. However, Ultraman himself denies this, sending a message to Taki that Ultraman is ultimately just another lifeform and needs humanity's research on the Beta System to take down Zetton. Later, Zōffy concedes that he respects humanity's ability to figure out a way to stop Zetton, something presumably not considered by the Planet of Light.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • Whereas the defense force teams in most Ultra series tend to operate sci-fi equivalents of tanks and fighter planes, the SSSP of this film do not. As they are a group of government workers with minimal training^note Kaminaga and Tamura are the only members who possess sidearms; and Taki and Funaberi are both from universities, they instead request support from the JSDF (the missile attacks on Neronga) and US military (the bombing runs on Gabora).
  • Merging with an Earthling can have more drawbacks than benefits. Zarab recording and releasing videos of Kaminaga transforming into Ultraman make the latter into a wanted fugitive. Even after Zarab is exposed and defeated, Kaminaga is not automatically cleared of suspicion, and other agencies seek him out in futile attempts to control him.
  • Despite Ultraman defeating Zetton and winning over Zoffy, he is still taken back to the Planet of Light to stand trial because he still broke their laws. It's akin to a soldier shooting their commanding officer over an order to fire on civilians. Yes the arresting officers might agree with the choice, but it doesn't change the fact that he shot his commanding officer.
• Tagline: Fantasy and romance. And, friendship. (空想と浪漫。そして、友情。)
  • Have you become so fond of humans, Ultraman?
• Theme Song: "M87" by Kenshi Yonezu.
• This Is a Drill: On top of his drill-like head petals, the kaiju Gabora also has corkscrew-like ridges on his back that can turn in sync with his head petals, allowing him to travel through the ground at great speed.
• Throat Light: Gabora's breath attack is signaled with one.
• Translator Microbes: Zarab shows a translator device that he uses when questioned about how can he speak Japanese. Asami tests it by speaking in Russian, and Zarab answers in kind perfectly.
• Uncanny Valley:
  • To those who are more familiar with the more muscular original Ultraman, Ultraman's tall, lean design in this film can seem very alien and unnerving. This is not helped by the first key visual◊ revealing his design having him stand in front of a lake with an eerily neutral posture, almost as if he's not meant to be there. This seems to be a deliberate design choice that feeds into the human characters treating the alien Ultraman with apprehension and concern. Even his movement is ominously weightless and inhuman in spite of his size, in complete contrast to the more natural and heavy movements of the kaiju he fights.
  • Zoffy, who shares Ultraman's body design, may actually be even worse, as in addition to having the same proportions, his face is modelled after the Ultraman Jack mask used for filming in Return of Ultraman 50 years ago, down to the imperfections such as the asymmetrical eyes and the slightly lopsided mouth, which makes him look like he's flashing a Psychotic Smirk. Considering his Adaptational Villainy, this may be a deliberate choice.
• Wham Shot: During their Beam-O-War, Mefilas sees something behind Ultraman that makes him give up the fight and flee Earth. What he saw was a second, golden Ultraman watching from afar.
• The Worf Barrage:
  • The MOP-2 bomb, shown to at least be able to severely injure Godzilla in Shin Godzilla, is completely useless against Gabora, with the kaiju surviving a continuous barrage with nary a scratch on its body.
  • Much like in the original 1966 series, all of Ultraman's attacks serve as this against Zetton, with the silver giant unable to do any damage against the Kill Sat.
• Wormsign: As Gabora tunnels through the countryside, he upturns the ground above him. This allows the US bombers to find him for bombing runs, though it does little against him.

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"Kaminaga!"
"Kaminaga-san…!"
"Kaminaga-san!"
"…Welcome home."