The Japanese poster. Note that there's a reason why the title card of Gaia is three times bigger than the title cards of Tiga and Dyna combined.
Ultraman Gaia: The Battle in Hyperspace (known as Ultraman Tiga, Ultraman Dyna, & Ultraman Gaia: The Decisive Battle in Hyperspace in Japan) is a 1999 tokusatsu film produced by Tsuburaya Productions, part of the Ultra Series and the only movie in the franchise centered around Ultraman Gaia.
In a change of pace from the usual formula, Ultraman Gaia: The Battle in Hyperspace is a Real-World Episode in which an Ultraman travels to a mundane universe where the Ultra Series is a work of fiction.
When a child named Tsutomu Shinsei, whom is a hardcore fan of Ultraman (especially Ultraman Gaia) comes across a mysterious red ball after a Prophetic Dream, which can seemingly grant his wishes, he immediately wishes to meet Gamu Takayama, the hero and human host of Ultraman Gaia. Sure enough, Gamu gets transported from the Ultramen's fictional universe into our reality, but unfortunately the wish also brought along monsters from Gamu's world. And to make things worse, bullies from Tsutomu's class have found the magical wish-granting ball, and intends to use it for their own selfish purposes...
Tropes related to the kaiju antagonists are already on the series' character page.
Ultraman Gaia: The Battle in Hyperspace provides the following tropes.
- Advertised Extra:
- Only for the Japanese title, Ultraman Tiga, Ultraman Dyna, & Ultraman Gaia: The Decisive Battle in Hyperspace. Ultraman Tiga and Dyna only shows up for the final battle, and their combined screentime takes up only a fraction of the film's runtime.
- Played straight for some promotional posters, which features ALL three Ultras taking roughly the same amount of poster space.
- An Aesop: It's better we think twice of what we are trying to wish for, for better or for worse.
- Artifact of Doom: The wish-granting red ball, which can grant wishes, but can also take over the minds of those who uses it.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Wishing for Ultraman Gaia into our world? Yeah, he will come, but so will the monsters and alien invaders.
- Behemoth Battle: The movie climaxes with Ultraman Gaia battling Kingmons. And when Kingmons summons backup in the form of Bajiris and Scylla, Ultraman Tiga and Dyna then joins the fray...
- Big Damn Heroes: Ultramen Tiga and Dyna arriving in the climax. Firstly by saving Tsutomu and friends just as they're about to fall to their deaths, then backing up Gaia against the legion of monsters.
- Book Ends: The movie begins and ends with a young girl named Lisa Nanase becoming Tsutomu's classmate. The latter case, on the other hand, is an Identical Stranger to the Red Sphere counterpart of Lisa.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: People who held on to the wish-granting red ball ends up losing their grip on reality and becoming possessed by its evil powers.
- Cassandra Truth: Gamu, after being transported from our world back into the Ultraman universe, but realizing our reality is in danger, had to try convincing his superiors to grant him access to a dimension-warping device to return to our universe.
- Coming of Age Story: Yes, this is an Ultraman movie, but for the most part it revolves around a lonely child disconnected from reality, dealing with bullies, peer pressure, and finding his place in the world. The Ultras and kaijus do fit into the story, but for the most part the emphasis is on the human drama.
- Crossover: Ultraman Gaia with Ultraman Tiga and Ultraman Dyna.
- Death by Newbery Medal: Played with Lisa Nanase's fate. Sure, she didn't die, but by resetting the wishes made by the Artifact of Doom means Lisa will be erased from existence too, and Tsutomu will have to accept the reality of losing her, and her disappearance would change him to be a more matured person.
- Then defied in the next scene, when an Identical Stranger also named Lisa Nanase transfers into his class.
- Disappears into Light:
- Gamu, and his jet, vanished into particles of light when the magic wears off, transporting him from reality back into the Ultramen's fictional universe.
- In the ending when the wishes are reset, Gamu Takayama, as well as the Ultramen Tiga and Dyna, disappears too, returning to their reality. But with the wishes reset, Lisa Nanase also ends up like this.
- Emerging from the Shadows: In the opening scene, Satanbizor (disguised as Gamu) comes out from the shadows to taunt him.
- Fake-Out Opening: The movie opens with an intense foot chase, with Gamu pursuing a mysterious stranger, before confronting the stranger, who then turns into the monster Satanbizor. Gamu then transforms into Ultraman Gaia, and a titanic battle is about to begin... before the whole thing is revealed to be a television screen being watched by Tsutomu.
- Fish out of Water: Gamu, upon arriving from the Ultramen universe into our world, is visibly confused on how did the public know his Secret Identity, and why is everyone so curious about him...
- Foreshadowing: In the Fake-Out Opening, Gamu is shown struggling to reach his Transformation Trinket after being knocked aside by a stray explosion, and had to cross a narrow catwalk to grab it. In the climax of the movie, Tsutomu had to reach the wish-granting red ball, but is knocked aside by a stray explosion that collapsed part of the roof he's on, and had to cross a narrow, collapsed pillar to reach it.
- Godzilla Threshold: With Ultraman Gaia being overwhelmed by the kaiju trio, what can be done? Summon more Ultras, that's what! Cue the arrival of Ultraman Tiga and Dyna...
- Henshin Hero: The first three main Ultras of the Heisei era appear in this film, although Gamu is the only human host to appear in the film, while Tiga and Dyna only appear in their Ultra forms.
- Hybrid Monster: King of Mons is formed from Hiroshi combining his kaiju design with the two other kaiju his friends came up with. It can create minions based on its components, Scylla from its chest and Bajiris from its back and wings.
- Kaiju: As Ultraman Gaia is summoned into Tsutomu's world by the red ball, so are the kaiju he fights in his world.
- Karma Houdini: Hiroshi, already a bully to Tsutomu, Hiroshi wished for TWO monsters (Satan-Bizorm and King of Mons) to attack Japan in hopes of having them kill Gamu/Ultraman Gaia, but when you think about it, those two monsters (ESPECIALLY King of Mons) have probably killed thousands of innocent lives in his neighborhood, and the damage worth would cost over millions. Granted for King of Mons's case, this is partially justified, as the wish-granting red ball was corrupting Hiroshi and making him act evil. But in the case of Satan-Bizorm, he was fully aware of his actions and he brought him to the real world purely to smite Tsutomu. To further rub salt in this trope, by the end of the movie, Hiroshi winds up becoming friends with Tsutomu!
- Land, Sea, Sky: The final battle, when the Ultramen Trio fights Kingmons and his two monster henchmen. Ultraman Gaia stays on land to fights Kingmons, Ultraman Tiga purses Scylla as they fight underwater, while Ultraman Dyna and Bajiris takes off into the stratosphere in an aerial battle.
- Lighter and Softer: Compared to the series, Ultraman Gaia. The movie is much more light-hearted overall and focuses on a child's struggles in school.
- Longing for Fictionland: Tsutomu is tired of living the lonely life of an isolated fourth-grader, and wished that the fictional universe of Ultramen are real.
- Loophole Abuse: The wishes cannot be undone, as such the monster army summoned by the red ball will remain. But hey, more wishes can be made, so Tsutomu instead tries wishing for more Ultramen. And his wish is granted with the arrival of Ultramen Tiga and Dyna...
- MacGuffin Turned Human: Lisa Nanase, see Tomato Surprise below.
- Non-Fatal Explosions: At the end of the movie when their school explodes thanks to being hit by a stray energy blast by Kingmons, Tsutomu and his classmates gets blasted sky-high by the explosion... and remains without a scratch. Yes, the timely arrival of Ultraman Tiga and Dyna saved them from falling to their deaths, but the heat, debris and impact of the explosion should've been enough to cause at least some serious injury.
- Oddball in the Series: The 90s saw several Ultramen-related movies and TV shows, but this is the only one which takes place in our reality instead of the Ultramen universe. And for the most part its a human-focused drama, with less emphasis on the Ultra vs. Kaiju action.
- Or Was It a Dream?: At the start of the film, Tsutomu saw himself being transported into his television, meets a mysterious girl, saw himself in a Fire and Brimstone Hell world... then wakes up. He assumed to be a dream, but then the next day the girl he saw in his "dream" shows up in his class...
- Reset Button: By wishing the red ball away from existence, everything that happened because of the wishes are instantly reset. Including the destruction caused by Satanbizor or Kingmons, or any memories of Tsutomu's classmates and the nearby civilians of meeting Gamu, the Ultras, and the monsters. However, Tsutomu does remember his meeting with Gamu.
- Shared Life-Meter: Kingmons' health is shared with his Co-Dragons, Scylla and Bajiris. As such, when Scylla and Bajiris gets destroyed by Ultraman Tiga and Dyna, Kingmons feels the pain from their demise too, and is subsequently weakened enough for Gaia to gain the upper hand.
- Shout-Out: To Gulliver's Travels. A copy of the book owned by Tsutomu is shown at several points of the movie, and Gamu compares his travels between alternate realities to Gulliver's adventures in Liliput and various magical lands.
- Show Within a Show: The Ultra Series in this universe.
- Supporting Protagonist: Well, in a way... despite the title, Ultraman Gaia, and Gamu, are only the supporting characters, the main character is Tsutomu, and much of the development revolves around him.
- Tomato Surprise: Lisa Nanase is the human form of the wish granting red ball.
- Waking Up Elsewhere: Gamu, after the fight against Satanbizor, before being transported back to his jet... only to realize the horde of excited schoolchildren surrounding his parked vehicle.
