Ultra Base

The Ultra Base is a location featured in the film Ultraman: Rising. It is Ken Sato's residence in Japan and also serves as a secret base equipped with numerous high-tech facilities.
==Overview==
The Ultra Base is believed to be located on an island in the coastal area of Tokyo Bay, consisting of both above-ground and underground structures. The above-ground section primarily serves as Ken Sato's residence, featuring facilities such as a lobby, bedroom, bathroom, and balcony, and is considered a large-scale super mansion. Additionally, the above-ground building is connected to the mainland by mobile artificial roads, which remain submerged in the sea and are activated only when Ken uses his Ultrabike.
The above-ground structure is linked to the main base in the basement cave (underwater) via an elevator platform. This airlock is an expansive space, tall enough to accommodate Ultraman's enormous stature. It features an Airlock stage that serves as Ultraman's entry and exit passage from the underwater base, as well as containment units for imprisoning kaiju. The walls of this room display Ken's racing car collection.
In the corner of the room is Ken's "Man Cave," a space designated for storing his collections and toys. This area also allows him to control the equipment, transforming the entire underground facility into a platform for virtual reality environments used for entertainment, combat training, and other purposes, equipped with large TVs and other entertainment facilities.
All functions of the base are managed by Mina, including surveillance and defense systems. The Ultrabase also has a protective shield system and frequency jammers to evade detection from various external signals. This enhances its defensive capabilities, ensuring the safety of Ken Sato and other users. Inside the base, there are capsule pods specifically designed for providing medical treatment to personnel.
==Conception==
===Design===
Regarding the visual design of the underground facility, concept designer Khang Le described it as follows:
The wall design of the underground facility features deep engravings, with the depth of the engravings varying along the S-curve. This allows the shadows to create varying levels of darkness, adding depth and complexity to the visual effect. The outer contours of the walls follow the primary volumes of the structure, allowing light and shadow to naturally play across the surfaces, enhancing the sense of dimensionality and visual depth in the space.
The design of the elevator platform emphasizes the interplay of light and shadow. The top of the platform is designed to be misty and semi-transparent, making characters' outlines more pronounced as they approach the elevator, thereby highlighting their presence. The platform itself is semi-transparent, with a certain thickness and a higher degree of specular reflection at the edges, forming a glowing ring around the platform. The surface of the platform features subtle, film-like textures, enriching the visual experience. The doors of the platform use an airlock membrane design that seamlessly closes. In terms of lighting and visual effects, a prismatic effect is employed. The edges of the platform have high reflectivity, with a slight thickness that captures delicate light bands.
====Airlock====
On the Airlock, the design allows some areas of the membrane to have lower transparency, especially where highlights might appear. When activated, light streaks become more pronounced, while in standby mode, these streaks subtly animate, gradually appearing and disappearing in a slow, snake-like path. The light colors have a slight prismatic effect, with iridescent hues cycling in a way that matches the overall color scheme, avoiding an overly abrupt rainbow effect.
The membrane structure's light can move, using a semi-hexagonal pattern similar to graphene foam. This design achieves a force-field-like effect in highlighted areas, with the membrane pattern feeling like it has the thickness of glass, consisting of two layers.
The activation design of the Airlock stage is divided into three phases: first, the outer membrane closes faster than the inner membrane; second, the membrane segments follow a spherical volume; and finally, the membrane segments close into a seamless whole.
====Man Cave====
In terms of interior design, Ken's room on the ground floor initially adopted a modern Japanese style. After multiple revisions and tests, the final design scheme was ultimately confirmed.https://x.com/YorikoIto1/status/1803040289025917372/
ManCave, designed by Marcos Mateu-Mestre, contrasts with the larger external structures with its "warm and humanized" style, primarily using wood and similar materials in construction. This room also houses many of Ken's childhood memories and toys, enhancing the overall atmosphere with a sense of warmth and personalization.
According to Mestre, Shannon Tindle had a very clear vision for this location; he knew exactly what he wanted and positioned this room as "the most intrinsic part of Ken's mind." This design philosophy imbues the room with profound personal significance, becoming a tangible manifestation of Ken's inner world.
The initial design sketches for this room were finalized as early as the Gamma Man era in 2017. Despite undergoing multiple revisions and adjustments, the final version of the room design underwent minimal significant changes, preserving the original design concept and style. Currently, the props, toys, and trophies in the room are designed by Minako Tomigahara.
==History==
===Ultraman: Rising===
The film opens with scenes depicting Ken's home and his departure to Tokyo. Upon his return, Mina uses the facility's entertainment functions to cheer Ken up.
When Ken/Ultraman brings Emi back to the base, Mina places Emi in a containment unit and takes on the responsibility of caring for the kaiju baby. Ken and Mina provides Emi with various interactive facilities, including human cuisine, Ken's image database, and children's program videos, for learning and entertainment.
However, during one awakening, Emi becomes bored and starts searching for Ken in the room, causing chaos and ultimately escaping the base, running wild in Tokyo. This leads to the room being destroyed and left in disarray.
After Professor Sato successfully healed Emi and helped Ken care for the small monster, the base transformed into a training facility to assist Emi in learning how to defend against enemies and respond to KDF attacks. Following an encounter with KDF drones attacking their forest cabin, Ken placed his father in a capsule for treatment and brought Emi's cocoon back to the base.
However, KDF quickly attacked Ken's home, and Mecha Gigantron used missiles to destroy the above-ground facilities, leading to severe damage to Mina, forcing her into permanent shutdown.
==Gallery==
===Ultraman: Rising===
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===Concept Art===
:;Made in Japan/Gamma Man
August Hall gamma man 2.png||Concept art, by August Hallhttps://www.instagram.com/p/C8cZ8lLp0Ka/
Ovi Nedelcu GAMMA MAN 41.jpg|Concept art, by Ovi Nedelcuhttps://www.instagram.com/p/C8o95ZUOmGB/
Ovi Nedelcu GAMMA MAN 42.jpg
Ovi Nedelcu GAMMA MAN 43.jpg
Ovi Nedelcu GAMMA MAN 44.jpg
:;Ultra Base
Ultrabase 02.png
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Ultraman Rising Car 1.jpg|Concept art by Jason Scheierhttps://www.facebook.com/parallaxinfinite/posts/pfbid035nf69Y3nBWk9TWvBSYgEYemEasevR9YB7JaUgcwMQh93pF3tRUje6ejxzXdK5fnxl
Ultra Base car 030.jpg|Car Wall, by Jason Scheierhttps://x.com/ScheierJason/status/1810680145675710947/
Ultrabase 50.jpg
Ultra Base ART 45.png|Ken's Home Destroyed
:;Man Cave and other rooms
Ken’s living room.jpg|Ken’s living room, by Yoriko Ito
Ken's room 4.jpg|Ken's room, by Minako Tomigaharahttps://www.instagram.com/p/C8Pkrl9JBEe/
Ken's room 1.jpg
Ken's room 2.jpg
Ken's room 3.jpg
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Ken’s Bedroom Bathroom 1.jpg|Ken’s Bathroom, by Minako Tomigaharahttps://www.instagram.com/p/C8X-OOdyo1M/
Ken’s Bedroom Bathroom 2.jpg|Ken’s Bedroom, by Minako Tomigahara
Gabriel Gomez Rising 11.jpg|Concept art by Gabriel Gomezhttps://www.instagram.com/p/C8nfTIaSWI8/
Gabriel Gomez Rising 13.jpg
Gabriel Gomez Rising 14.jpg
Marion Louw Ultraman Rising 11.png|Concept art by Marion Louwhttps://www.instagram.com/p/C8XDp7-x6Al/
==Trivia==
*The construction and origins of the Ultra Base are not mentioned in the film. However, the entire base is believed to possess facilities more advanced than other human technologies.
*Inside the Ultra Base, there is a giant inflatable doll of Ken.
*Ken has amassed a collection of race cars for his personal collection, including the Porsche 917, Jaguar D-Type, BMW M1, Chevrolet Camaro, Ferrari 275, Nissan Skyline GT-R, and MAT Vehicle. However, in his daily life, he typically uses a motorcycle named "Ultrabike" as his primary mode of transportation.
*Ken's Man Cave features the following collectibles:
**Toys from the Ultraman series include the original Ultraman, Bemular, Neronga, Gomora, Alien Baltan, and Skydon.
**A JBL Paragon D44000 and three music albums, including Bibio's Zen Drums, Soul Jazz Volume Two ~ Status ST 1010 ~ vinyl LP, and Thelonious Monk's Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 2.
**Multiple baseball trophies, including the World Class Baseball Tower Trophy, Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award, two Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Awards, and a Gold Glove Award.
**A Bellaa 20881 decorative bookend, and Night Clock.
**A Furby doll.
**A Red Lion and Yellow Lion from 1984 American-Japanese animated TV series Voltron.
**A Hideki Matsui's Yomiuri Giants jersey.
**Two toys resembling the AbarenOh/Thundersaurus Megazord from Bakuryū Sentai Abaranger / Power Rangers Dino Thunder can be found in Ken's room. It is believed that these designs were proposed by Ryo Yambe.https://x.com/ShannonTindle_1/status/1804544307241886064
**Ken also collects the left hand of a statue known as the "Curse of the Colonel." According to legend, this statue was thrown into Osaka's Dotonbori River by jubilant fans when the Hanshin Tigers won the Japan Championship in 1985. Since then, the Tigers have never won another championship, leading to the event being dubbed as the "curse." Although most of the statue was retrieved in 2009, its left hand remains missing to this day.https://www.dailyshincho.jp/article/2024/07121050/?all=1&page=2
==References==
Category:Locations
Category:Headquarters
Category:Ultraman: Rising