Ultraman Saga (film)

is a Japanese tokusatsu film in the Ultraman Series, created to celebrate the franchise's 45th anniversary. It serves as a sequel to Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial. The movie features Ultraman Zero, Ultraman Dyna and Ultraman Cosmos facing a new ultimate threat, , who was created by the evil Alien Bat, and a new Ultraman named .
This movie is set in a new universe called the Future Earth World, but also includes scenes from the World of the Land of Light, the Neo Frontier Space World, the Cosmo Space World, and the Another Space World. It takes place 15 years after Ultraman Dyna and features much of its supporting cast returning. A selection of members from the idol group AKB48 portrayed the members of Team U, a special monster attack team part of the 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. It is also the first Ultraman movie to be screened in 3D.
The movie can be watched on Tubi, Shout, Prime video, and Vudu.
==Continuity==
*World of Neo Frontier Space:
**Nozomu Taiga's flashback took place during the events of Ultraman Dyna.
**The timeline took place after Dyna and before Ultraman Tiga Gaiden: Revival of the Ancient Giant.
*World of Cosmo Space: Took place after Ultraman Cosmos vs. Ultraman Justice: The Final Battle.
==Synopsis==
The movie begins 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. 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 Shin Asuka/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...
==Plot==
The film begins with a city, which had all the people abducted from it, with some members of the Earth Defense Force (EDF) left, Team U who tries to take the advantage by doing some grocery shopping and put down a notice (written that they will return back to pay the groceries) at a noticeboard covered by other similar notices, while quickly leave the supermarket. However, an unknown kaiju rises in front of the supermarket and begins to chase four of the Team U members until their leader approaches with an exo-suit and hold the monster off while giving the other members a chance to escape. The captain herself bait the Kaiju to a landmine though however it was proven useless until Ultraman Dyna comes and easily defeats the kaiju. Dyna gives them a thumb up and leaves as the Team U member amazed and acknowledge him as a hero.
Somewhere in space, a being communicates with Ultraman Zero telepathically and seeks his help to come to the Earth as Zero agrees and reverts to Ultimate form and went to Earth after defeating remnants of Legionoids. At the Land of Light, Ultraseven realized that his son had traveled through space time much to his and Leo's worries as three more Ultras, Ace, Ultraman and Jack appears thinking that it might have a relation with a mystery disk as some of the dead Kaiju from the Monster Graveyard had been taken away.
The scene later moves to Dyna's universe and later the TPC Base at the Mars where Gousuke Hibiki (now promoted to the General rank) delivering speeches to everyone with honoring 15th anniversary of Asuka's sacrifice. While Ryo was talking to Toshiyuki Kohda (now a TPC Dept. General), he was introduced to Nozomu Taiga, a new rookie of the Super GUTS. Taiga later underestimate's Asuka's sacrifice while playing a holographic game. The celebration was cut short as they witness a Sphere duplicates itself and on his way to the TPC Base and attacking it. Taiga quickly pilot the GUTS Eagle Alpha and fires some of the Sphere as Kariya, Ryo and Nakajima witnessing it and realized that his attacks and movements while piloting the jet is similar to Asuka's technique. But however, the same mystery disk traps all of the Spheres and unknowingly caught Taiga along.
The scene later moves to the same abandoned city on Earth, where Zero wondering what happened to the civilians while standing on the top of a building. Suddenly, the disk appears and summons its familiars to attack Zero. Taiga later gains consciousness and starts to watch Zero fighting the minions. As Zero quickly destroys all of them, one of his blast accidentally about to kill a boy. Taiga realized this and sacrifice himself by piloting the GUTS Eagle Alpha and receive the blast itself while Zero quickly spirited the boy away. Zero quickly rescue Taiga's life by merging with him as Taiga waking up without realize anything. Taiga later wonders how did he happened to gain the Ultra Zero Bracelet while the boy approaches Taiga and gives him a bottle of drink as a gift.
While Taiga drinks, Zero communicates with Taiga as orders Zero to get out from his body but Zero quickly explains that his fusion with Taiga had made him more of Taiga's life support system. But however their fight was interrupted with the dolphin/narwhal kaiju, Gubila. Zero later volunteers him to transform but he refuses and rather have himself being chased along with the boy. Ultraman Cosmos appears and rescue Taiga and the boy while taming the kaiju. Cosmos reverts to his human form and introduce himself as Musashi Haruno. Zero revealed to Taiga that he was the one who brought him here from the first place. Team U later approaches with their exo-suits and revealing the boy's name as Takeru.
They brought Musashi and Taiga to their base and explains that an unknown spaceship had caught the civilians which leaving the city vacant. However, some of the homeless kids had been founded and brought them to their base as a temporary refugee. While the kids shows Taiga their base, he was introduced to a member of the Team U who realized that Taiga's outlook which similar to her late teammate, Asuka. The Team U member explains to Musashi that the civilians have been kidnapped by a mysterious disc as they were the humans left on Earth. Two Kaiju, a Gubila and a Gomess later surfaced and begin to attack Team U's base.
Though Cosmos was powerless to stop them, Taiga realized that Zero's power was needed as he transforms. Though Zero was proud of him, but his proud was short lived as he only grows 5 feet tall and scolds Taiga for his improper transformation. The kids later laughs at him even goes so far by poking him with a mop. As Taiga/Zero joins the fight both of them are badly defeated due to their incompatibility, Cosmos use the Full Moon Rect on the two Kaiju but, before they could rejoice Alien Bat in his spaceship killed the two kaiju.
Later, at night, when everyone were having dinner, Taiga witness a drawing of Ultraman Dyna and recall that he had once witness him as a child. Zero later ask him why did he hates Ultraman as Taiga replies that as a child, his parents died from a monster assault and that Dyna never came in time to rescue them. While at the kids' bedroom, Musashi starts to tell stories of a new planet which is suitable for the monsters to habituate as it was guarded by the Chaos Header as Musashi, Ayano and their son watching it from afar.
The next day, Alien Bat starts his assault by ordering Hyper Zetton to fire at Team U's base. Trying to rescue the kids, Taiga was traumatized as this makes him remind back of his parents' death. Tired of Alien Bat's terror, Musashi and Taiga decides to fight him. Before they go, the Team U leader wants them to avenge Asuka's death as he had once returned join Team U but he had died as Dyna when Zetton in cocoon form absorb his energy. As they transform into their respective Ultraman, they flight to Zetton. While proven powerless to stop it, Takeru arrives at the scene and picking up Dyna's transformation item which had ejected from him during his death. Takeru handed over it to the Team U leader which she rides on an exo-suit and flight it towards Dyna's corpse. Dyna revives and assist Zero to destroy Zetton while reviving Cosmos.
After Zetton's demise, Bat use his spaceship to fuse with the dead Zetton into Hyper Zetton. Hyper Zetton later uses his speed and energy manipulation ability to overpower the Ultramen. Takeru and the others escort the Team U leader out of the wrecked exosuit only to find out that she died. With the three Ultras proven powerless to stop him, they revert to their human form and transform again, only to fuse into a greater Ultraman. His energy later revives the leader which she names him as Ultraman Saga and explains that their desire of protecting the Earth had form him. Saga copies Hyper Zetton's ability to fight against him as everyone later watch their fight from afar. Saga throws him to the space and punches Hyper Zetton which also kills Bat. Saga emerge victorious as energies from the destroyed Hyper Zetton returns the civilians. Not long after, Takeru reunites with his mother and the Team U members commend the Ultramen for a good job.
In credit, Asuka informed his former Super GUTS teammate via telepathy that Taiga is alive and do not to worry about his condition because Taiga now has a new life and goals in the world his reside now and Ryo convinces Asuka that she and their other former Super GUTS will catchup Asuka no matter where he been while Asuka will waiting for them.
===Director's Cut===
After Ultraman Saga's birth, Hyper Zetton retaliates by summoning a group of Spheres to awaken remodeled versions of Verokron, Tyrant, Black King, Antlar, and King Pandon. Then, the Ultra Hosts of Leo, Jack, Ultraseven, Ultraman, and Ace appear and encourage the heroes to not give up. The Ultra Brothers transform and begin battling the remodeled monsters while Saga and Hyper Zetton fly towards the city. The Ultras fight with ease and destroy them with their finisher attacks before Saga's final battle commences.
After Ultraman Saga defeats Hyper Zetton, the five Ultras watch as all the abducted humans are safely returned.
===Ultraman Saga: Zero and Ultra Brothers Pop Out! Hyper Battle!===
Zero is seen fighting against a remodeled Birdon in a green pocket dimension. He is soon beat down, but Zoffy arrives to deliver the Ultra Converter and heal Zero. The two then quickly finish off Birdon.
==Appearances==
===Ultras===
*Ultraman Zero
**Normal
**Ultimate Zero
*Ultraman Dyna
**Flash Type
*Ultraman Cosmos
**Luna Mode
*Ultraman Saga
*Ultraman
*Ultraseven
*Ultraman Jack
*Ultraman Ace
*Ultraman Leo
===Kaiju===
*Hyper Zetton
*Alien Bat
*Sphere
*Gubila
*Gomess (S)
*Arstron
*Legionoid
*Chaos Header 0
*Lidorias
*Bolgils
*Mogrudon
*Golmede
*Mienin
*Eligal
*Tyrant
*Black King
*King Pandon
*Antlar
*Verokron
==Cast==
*: DAIGO
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*Team U Members: AKB48
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===Voice Actors===
* and : 
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===Suit Actors===
*Ultraman Zero, Ultraman Saga: 
*Ultraman Cosmos: 
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===Action Support===
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*https://twitter.com/tomo_mk3/status/859515723940364289
==Deleted Scenes==
The movie originally contained scenes involving five of the Ultra Brothers battling monsters summoned by Hyper Zetton, which were cut from the film.
===Ultraman Retsuden===
Four days after the movie's release on March 28, 2012, the deleted scenes were reused and recontextualised in episode 39 of Ultraman Retsuden alongside newly-shot footage. The scene showing the five Ultras watching the humans returning to Earth was used as the episode's title card.
The episode begins with Hyper Zetton using the Spheres to summon the monster weapons with Ultraman Zero determined to challenge them alone, until Zoffy appears before him in a vision to explain the history of the Kaiju and their battles with the Ultra Brothers. After this, Ultraman Cosmos and Ultraman Dyna appear, followed by Ultraman, Ultraseven, Ultraman Jack, Ultraman Ace, and Ultraman Leo. The five Ultra Brothers' fight with the monsters then takes place, now accompanied by the Ultraman Retsuden opening song, Kirameku Mirai. Some scenes of Zero, Cosmos, and Dyna battling Hyper Zetton are shown, then the episode concludes with Zero narrating over clips of Ultraman Saga fighting, among which include the five Ultras appearing next to Saga.http://ultramanasina.blog102.fc2.com/blog-entry-1101.html?sphttp://kirituki.blog78.fc2.com/blog-entry-1813.html?sp 
Furthermore, this readjusted series of events acts as a continuation of the promotional DVD, Ultraman Saga: Zero & Ultra Brothers Pop Out! Hyper Battle!, which presented a second Alien Bat with the same plan as the one in the original movie.Ultraman Saga: Zero & Ultra Brothers Pop Out! Hyper Battle! contains a trailer for the 39th episode of Ultraman Retsuden, calling it the conclusion to the current battle.Web archive of official Ultraman Retsuden blog, stating that the Alien Bat in Ultraman Saga: Zero & Ultra Brothers Pop Out! Hyper Battle! is different to the one in Ultraman Saga (Japanese). This special was only released in Televi-kun's April 2012 issue on March 1, 2012.https://www.amazon.co.jp/てれびくん-2012年-04月号-雑誌/dp/B0076NHQC4
===Director's Cut===
On December 7, 2013, a version of the movie with the deleted scenes re-added called the was screened at MOVIX Kameari.https://m-78.jp/news/n-2251 Then, starting on January 15, 2014, the director's cut was featured in New Ultraman Retsuden, split across episodes 29-33, which also included a completely new scene where Zero, Cosmos and Dyna gaze upon Earth from space and bump fists before Cosmos and Dyna leave.Official New Ultraman Retsuden blog states that the scene showing Cosmos, Zero, and Dyna in space was newly shot for New Ultraman Retsuden (Japanese). These episodes were re-aired as part of the 2015 version of Ultraman Zero: The Chronicle, but in the 2017 version, the new scene, along with the scenes showing Asuka speaking to Super GUTS and Musashi on Planet Juran, were omitted.Webry blogger states that Asuka and Musashi's mid-credits scenes were cut (Japanese).Pixiv claims that the New Ultraman Retsuden-exclusive scene, along with Asuka and Musashi's mid-credits scenes, were cut (Japanese).
In 2019, the Ultra Brothers' scenes were featured in the prologue episode of Ultraman Taiga. In 2020, the director's cut was showcased within Ultraman Chronicle: ZERO & GEED episodes 4-8, again without the new scene.FC2 blogger "ナナ・アールグレイ" posted screenshots of practically every part of the episode, none of which include the scene (Japanese).FC2 blogger "空色カラス" recounts the content of the episode and doesn't mention the scene (Japanese).
In 2021, the director's cut was released on disc for the first time ever in a Blu-ray boxset created to celebrate Ultraman Zero's 10th anniversary.https://m-78.jp/news/post-5743 The new scene from New Ultraman Retsuden was not included. In 2022, some of the deleted scenes were once again showcased in episode 6 of Ultraman Chronicle D.
==Reception==
The film topped at #4 in the box office, but received mixed reviews from fans, some criticizing the acting of Daigo Naito as Nozomu Taiga and AKB48 as Team U. Jim M. Ballard from SciFi Japan said: "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.
==Home Media==
*On September 21, 2012, the movie released on DVD and Blu-ray in Japan.
*In 2016, the first two episodes of Ultraman Zero: The Chronicle that cover Ultraman Saga were released in AQUOS-Sharp's fifth volume with English, Chinese and Malay subtitles.
*On April 27, 2021, the director's cut was included in the "Ultraman Zero Blu-ray BOX 10th Anniversary Edition" boxset. 
*On June 15, 2021, it was included in Mill Creek's Ultraman Zero collection, with English subtitles.https://www.millcreekent.com/products/ultraman-zero-chronicles
*On February 1, 2021, Mill Creek released the 2015 version of Ultraman Zero: The Chronicle on Blu-ray with English subtitles.https://www.millcreekent.com/products/ultraman-zero-the-chronicle-the-complete-series
==Gallery==
===Logos and Key Art===
Logo saga.png|Logo
Logo saga 2.png
Ultraman Saga Cover Art 1.jpg
Ultraman Saga Cover Art 2.jpg
Top.jpg
Ultra Saga1.jpg
===Miscellaneous===
45e3ee1d.jpg|Hyper Zetton crushing the Ultras, and Ultraman Saga on the right
HyperZetton2.jpg|Hyper Zetton
H4.jpg
Ultraman-zero-host.jpg|Ultraman Zero's 2nd human host and Ultraman Saga
Kjp,s.jpg
6362873041 641c4c5227 b.jpg
Ultraman-saga-movie.jpg
Story04z.jpg
Tor 516143053 1.jpg
Ultraman Saga-007.jpg
Fbsre.png
Sdftgyhuj.png
Fgthjkg.png
Ultraman Csms fmly.png
Maxresdefaultfui.jpg
Dyna saga wow.jpg
Saga5a.jpg
Ultramansaga.jpg
Hyper zetton.jpg
Ultraman-Saga-2012-4.jpg
Ultra-saga=-specium.jpg
Blarghhhh.jpg
Ultraman Saga-006vgyi.jpg
ULTRAMAN SAGA 2 1.jpg
ULTRAMAN-SAGA-pic-3 1.jpg
Ultraman Saga-004.jpg
====Director's Cut====
Saga-1.jpg
Saga-0.jpg
Cosmos-Zero-Dyna.jpg|Cosmos, Zero, and Dyna bumping fists in the New Ultraman Retsuden-exclusive scene
Saga Hyper Battle Retsuden Trailer.png|Ultraman Retsuden episode 39 being advertised in Ultraman Saga: Zero and Ultra Brothers Pop Out! Hyper Battle!
==Trivia==
*In the director's cut, after Hyper Zetton is defeated, Ultraseven comments that all lives are being returned to Earth, but in the regular version, Taiga says his line dubbed over the three Ultra hosts celebrating within Saga's inner light.
*Mai Midorikawa was meant to return in this movie, but her actress, Mariya Yamada, was unable to due to being pregnant at the time of recording.
*Originally, Taro was supposed to fight Tyrant, but was replaced by Leo, possibly due to the Ultra being the master of Zero, who was the star Ultra at the time.
*One of the initial plots for the film was to be set exclusively in the Neo Frontier Space World and be an epilogue to Dyna's series. This idea was turned down as Takeshi Tsuruno felt that Asuka's wandering days should not yet be concluded.
*Another idea was that the film included Ultraman King, Ultraman Justice, Ultraman Mebius, Ultimate Force Zero and Team EYES. The main antagonist of the film would have been Dark Lucifer, the scrapped final villain of Ultraman Nexus. At the end of the film, Cosmos and Justice would have combined to become Ultraman Legend, Mebius would have combined with the Ultra Brothers to become Mebius Infinity and Zero and Dyna would have combined to become Saga. Then, along with Ultraman King and Ultimate Force Zero, they would have entered the final battle.
*In Ultraman Retsuden episode 35, Zoffy informs Zero of a Zetton radiating evil energy from another universe, referring to Hyper Zetton from this movie. To prepare him, Zoffy shows Zero the various battles Ultras have had with Zetton throughout history.
**Similarly, Ultraman Ginga S Super Complete Works stated that Zero's arrival on Team U's Earth was partly under orders from Zoffy due to the increasing Minus Energy of a Zetton (Hyper Zetton) in that dimension.
*In Ultraman Saga Super Complete Works, Zero was mentioned to have visited the alternate Earth once more, with Anna of Team U recording his arrival in her diary.
*The Future Earth World is briefly revisited in the beginning of Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Absolute Conspiracy episode 7.
*This movie marks Jiro Dan's final role as Hideki Go before he passed away in 2023.
==External Links==
*Official website
==References==
id:Ultraman Saga (film)
Category:Productions
Category:Movies
Category:Heisei Movies
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Category:Ultraman Saga