Film / Ultraman Saga

All spoilers for Ultraman Dyna, Ultraman Cosmos, and Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

Never Give Up!!

Ultraman Saga is a 2012 film made by Tsuburaya Productions and was directed by Hideki Oka for the Ultraman Franchise. It serves as a sequel to Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial and is the 3rd movie of the Ultraman Zero trilogy. This film is notably for revealing the return of classic Heisei Ultras, Ultraman Dyna and Ultraman Cosmos, as well as the villain Alien Bat, who first appeared in the series Return of Ultraman.

Somewhere in another universe, the evil Alien Bat has abducted the entire population of Earth with the exception of a minor few children and is creating a massive monster that feeds on their fear and despair. This monster is none other than Zetton, the first monster to have beaten Ultraman!

Meanwhile Ultraman Zero, who is still living in yet another different universe (from "previous events") has heard the distress calls from the Earth that Alien Bat is ravaging and thus heads there to stop Alien Bat's tyranny and save the Earth from Zetton. Merging with Nozomu Taiga, a young pilot of Super GUTS, Zero joins with makeshift Earth Defense Force group Team U, as well as Musashi Haruno, (Ultraman Cosmos) and Shin Asuka (Ultraman Dyna), together the team of heroes set out to stop Alien Bat and Hyper Zetton from conquering the Universe.

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Ultraman Saga provides examples of the following tropes:

• Alternate Universe: The film takes place in a brand new alternate universe to all of the other ones, this time featuring a world without Ultras until Alien Bat arrives and forces Dyna, Cosmos and Zero to save it.
• Apocalypse How: Class 3, all intelligent lifeforms on Earth (save for Team U) were abducted by Alien Bat in order for the survivors' fear to feed Hyper Zetton.
• Attack Drone: Alien Bat's ship can deploy several of these, one which Taiga crashes into.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: While Ultras are already massive and so are their Kaiju, Gigant Zetton is far bigger than either and dwarfs the Ultras in size, leading to an odd example of this.
• Berserk Button: Ultraman Zero tries to be very dignified, and does not tolerate being called foolish or small by any other name. As such he has this button pressed over and over by others.
• Big Bad: Alien Bat. Who is responsible for the Kaiju attacks and other threats as well as the disappearance of all lifeforms to create his ultimate weapon: Hyper Zetton.
• Big Damn Heroes: Hyper Zetton tries to summon a monster army to back him up when Saga is able to match his might, which makes it seem that things are once again his favor... only for Ultraman, Ultraseven, Ultraman Jack, Ultraman Ace, and Ultraman Leo to arrive and take care of them so Saga can deal with Hyper Zetton all on his own.
• Bishōnen Line: Alien Bat merges with the remains of Gigant Zetton to become Hyper Zetton which is considerably more humanoid than its previous form.
• But Now I Must Go: At the end of the movie, Ultraman Zero parts ways with Taiga, since there Zero has other duties in the universe that he would need to take care of, and he wanted Taiga to live his life as he wished.
• The Cameo: Several characters from the previous series appear briefly in the film.
  • Ryo and Kohda from the old super GUTS appear in the beginning of he film during the announcement of Asuka's death anniversary which was lead by none other than their former captain, Hibiki. Nakajima and Kariya also appear during the end credits.
  • Ayano from Team EYES is seen during Musashi's flashback of Planet Juran, in which their both are revealed to be Happily Married and have a son toegether. She is also seen in the end credits watching the sunset alongside her husband and son.
  • The now reform Chaos header also appeared in said flashback being the guardian of the planet itself.

• Chekhov's Gun: At the start of the film, Team U had set up explosive trap doors all over Tokyo in order to stop monsters from attacking. It doesn't work when Earthtron attacks them. During Ultraman Saga's and Hyper Zetton's battle however, the trap successfully works in distracting Hyper Zetton long enough for Ultraman Saga to cripple him in battle by destroying his wings and destroy him once and for all.
• Continuity Nod: The finale of Ultraman Dyna had Asuka end up sucked into a wormhole, in this film it is a major plot point, since it started the journey that took him to the alternate Earth of this film. Also, Musashi mentions how Chaos Header, which Cosmos purified in the final episode of his series, is the peaceful leader of the planet Juran, where humans and Kaiju all live together in harmony.
  • Continuity Snarl: Applies heavily if you count Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends as it is the first part of the Zero trilogy since Ultraman Dyna appeared in that film as well. According to Word of God, the film's writer wished to disregard the events of the first film as he deemed them too confusing when it involved Dyna. However in doing so, then it would also contradict the events of the sequel as well, thus it would never be explained how Ultraman Zero arrived in the multiverse in the first place, knew who Ultraman Belial was, OR recognize who Dyna was in this film as well.
• Crossover: Ultraman Zero crosses over with the unrelated Ultraman Cosmos and Ultraman Dyna series as the 3 titular Ultras serve as the main protagonists of the film, with their stories receiving epilogues of sorts (though Zero and Dyna's continuous adventures downplay this in their case).
• Curbstomp Battle:
  • Ultraman Dyna vs. Earthtron, where the Kaiju doesn't even harms Dyna before being destroyed with ease.
  • Gigant, and later Hyper Zetton is constantly able to get the upper hand on Zero, Cosmos, and Dyna on their lonesome as Gigant and all three at once as Hyper Zetton.
  • Ultraman, Ultraseven, Ultraman Jack, Ultraman Ace, and Ultraman Leo easily defeat the resurrected Antlar, King Pandon, Black King, Verokron and Tyrant summoned by Hyper Zetton.
• Darkest Hour: At the very end, when Hyper Zetton effortlessly delivers a Curb-Stomp Battle that forces Dyna, Zero and Cosmos back to their human forms, unable to transform, Anna is mortally injured in her crashed vehicle, and there is seemingly nobody else capable of stopping Alien Bat as the vile alien declares himself the new god. Luckily, the advent of Saga is able to reverse this.
• "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Two examples.
  • The theme song for the movie "Lost The Way" was by the AKB48 subunit, Di VA, who played the members of Team U. (Well, only 4 were members of DiVA, while the other three were fellow AKB members who were under the same agency as them.)
  • Takeshi Tsuruno (Asuka) performs the cover of “Kimi dake mo Mamoritai”.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Alien Bat cannot understand why Ultramen always help humans, who he sees as worthless. Zero lampshades this by saying that there's no reason, except that's the way it's always been.
• Evil Laugh: Alien Bat is fond of complimenting his ego and cruelty with laughter whenever his opponents suffer.
• Forgot About His Powers: Cosmos and Musashi seem to forget that they can transform into Corona or even Eclipse mode which would actually be really helpful in the battles of the movie, against at least Gigant Zetton for instance, but instead they choose to fight using only his Luna mode. Which is not only a Badass Pacifist but also have little to no offensive attacks. This bites him hard.
• Fusion Dance: Ultraman Saga, formed by Ultraman Zero, Ultraman Dyna, and Ultraman Cosmos fusing into one. It is an Ultra powerful enough to fight Hyper Zetton on equal grounds.
• Ghost Planet: This is what the alternate Earth became after Alien Bat abducted nearly every human with the exception of Team U and several children.
• A God Am I: Alien Bat declares himself a god after merging with Hyper Zetton.
• Heel–Face Turn: Ultraman Cosmos purifies Gubila and Gomess from Alien Bat's control, returning them to a friendly state.
• Hope Spot: Dyna has been revived, and he, Cosmos, and Zero have managed to defeat Gigant Zetton... and then they find out that it was just the larval stage for Imago Hyper Zetton which Bat promptly completes, who proceeds to give all three of them a Curb-Stomp Battle. Luckily they manage to fuse into Saga to win the battle
• Idiot Ball: Cosmos oh Cosmos. Let's just say things would have been a lot more helpful and easier (except against Hyper Zetton) if Cosmos and Musashi remember that they can transform into other stronger forms.
• Kaiju: The movie features many in various roles: an army of Legionoids show up in the beginning fighting against Zero. Alien Bat unleashes Gomess, Gubila and Earthron at different times to terrorize the survivors of Earth, with his goal being the creation of a stronger version of Zetton to destroy all life in the Multiverse with. The director's cut deleted scene has Antlar, King Pandon, Black King, Verokron and Tyrant resurrected by Hyper Zetton to aid him in fighting Saga, only to be defeated by the Ultra brothers.
• Marilyn Maneuver: One of the members of AKB48 in a miniskirt has one of these moments when Ultraman Zero transforms to fight Gigant Zetton.
• Megaton Punch: Ultraman Saga's finishes Hyper Zetton and Alien Bat with a charged full force punch to the face which pulverizes both monster and master.
• Mini-Mecha: The U-Loader used by Team-U which is small but strong enough to assist them against the Kaiju sent by Bat to attack them.
• Power Glows: Ultraman Saga's whole body glows all the colors of the rainbow to symbolize his massive power.
• Sealed Good in a Can: Ultraman Dyna starts off this way after losing to Gigant Zetton and being trapped into its cocoon to be drained of energy, forcing Zero and Cosmos to rescue him.
• Spit Take: Taiga ends up spitting his drink suddenly after hearing Zero's voice coming from inside him.
• Stepping Stones in the Sky: After merging with Zero, Taiga has to do this while carrying a child and being flung into the air by Gubila, jumping from debris to debris to try and get away only to unfortunately land on the Kaiju's nostrill.
• Symbiotic Possession: Per Ultra Series tradition, this time Zero gets a new host named Nozomu Taiga, who he merges with after the latter comes close to dying saving a child from the Sphires.
• Theme Music Power-Up: When Dyna revives to join the fight, a cover of his home series’ first ED “Kimi dake mo Mamoritai” plays.
• Tiny-Headed Behemoth: Gigant Zetton's head is the same size as a regular Zetton's, despite its body being much bigger and towering over the Ultras.
• Teleport Spam: Hyper Zetton uses this to his advantage to overwhelm his opponents in addition to his massive firepower. Ultraman Saga's use of this power allows him to fight on equal grounds with the super Kaiju.
• Took a Level in Badass: Team U. Originally the group was composed of a bunch of amateur mechanics, an office worker, and nurse who weren't all that great at their attempted heroics. However once the Human race had been abducted, they took it upon themselves to protect the surviving children of Alien Bat's invasion and held on well.
• Transformation Sequence: All three Ultras have one.
• Transformation Trinket: Zero's Ultra Eye, Cosmos's Cosmo Pluck, and Dyna's Reflasher. Also Alien Bat's own fortress.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Taiga and Ultraman Zero when Zero takes on Taiga as his host.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Ultraman Zero gives one to Taiga, after Taiga freezes up thinking about a traumatic memory of his childhood during Gigant Zetton's attack on Team U's base, in order to help him overcome this trauma and be strong enough to fight Bat's threat.
• You Have Failed Me: Alien Bat executes Gubila and Gomess after their Heel–Face Turn for failing to stop Ultraman Cosmos or Ultraman Zero, and to spite the former for having purified them.

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