Ultraman Trigger: Episode Z (ウルトラマントリガー エピソードZ, Urutoraman Torigā Episōdo Zetto) is a Japanese superhero kaiju film, serving as the conclusion to the 2021-22 Ultra Series television series Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga. Aside from its premiere on March 18, 2022, through Japanese theaters, it will also be made available in the pay per view website Tsuburaya Imagination.[1][2]

Ultraman Trigger: Episode Z
Theatrical movie poster
Japanese	ウルトラマントリガー エピソードZ
Hepburn	Urutoraman Torigā Episōdo Zetto
Directed by	Masayoshi Takesue
Written by	Toshizo Nemoto
Based on	Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga by Koichi Sakamoto
Produced by	Tsugumi Kitaura
Starring	Raiga Terasaka Runa Toyoda Shunya Kaneko Meiku Harukawa Tadashi Mizuno Katsuya Takagi Kei Hosogai Kohshu Hirano Akinori Ando Yūichi Nakamura Shin Takuma
Cinematography	Satoshi Murakawa
Edited by	Yosuke Yafune
Music by	Go Sakabe
Production company	Tsuburaya Productions
Distributed by	Bandai Namco Arts Tsuburaya Productions
Release date	March 18, 2022 (2022-03-18)
Running time	74 mins
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

The film's slogan is "The one who inherits the shadow, the one who connects the light." (影を継ぐもの、光を繋ぐもの, Kage o Tsugu Mono, Hikari o Tsunagu Mono).

Synopsis

Two years after Kengo/Trigger sacrificed themselves to stabilize the Eternity Core, GUTS-Select fights against a new wave of monster attacks under their new leader Ryuichi Tokioka, and at the same time investigating the Rylar cult's global scale terrorism. The cult's leader, Rylar Ibra, relays his message of the Eternity Core and Kengo’s impending doom, and that to save them both requires both parties' temporary alliance. While the returned Kengo recuperates, Rylar escapes captivity as both Haruki and Ultraman Z join forces with GUTS-Select to fight against the cult. Deducing that both of their enemies are allying with each others, GUTS-Select and Haruki decided to reclaim Trigger's scattered Hyper Keys. Their expedition led them to cross paths with Rylar, as a battle ensues when the latter summons a few monsters to their aid. After Trigger and Z defeated them, Haruki is revealed to be possessed by Celebro, who knocks Kengo out of transformation to steal his Hyper Keys, forcing Ignis to bail GUTS-Select away from the cult.

Rylar’s true leader is revealed to be Tokioka, whose true identity is Zabil, Yuzare’s old friend from 30 million years prior as a fellow member of the Terran Protection Team. When Yuzare sacrificed herself to assist the recently defected Trigger in driving out the Giants of Darkness away from Earth, Zabil becomes heartbroken by her loss, feeling that all the sacrifices made by his fellow team members went down the drain. Realizing that humans needed to become light on their own, Zabil orchestrated the events in Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga to ensure the destruction of their old adversaries and manipulates Mitsukuni to further his plans after slipping into the ranks of TPU. When Kengo loses his powers as Trigger after splitting from Eternity Core, Rylar decided to take those powers all to themselves and collaborated with Celebro, who has a grudge for Ultraman Z. With GUTS-Select incapacitated, Kengo and Akito managed to regain the stolen devices and the former transforms into Trigger to assist Trigger Dark.

Celebro is later expelled from Haruki and Z’s body, forcing it to possess Rylar Ibra and summons Destrudos. Just as Zabil/Evil Trigger mocks Kengo for not being a human, the members of GUTS-Select defends him while affirming them as his friends, as Yuna uses the Eternity Core to restore Glitter Trigger Eternity. With Destrudos defeated, Evil Trigger harnesses the power of darkness to become gigantic, but is later destroyed by the three Ultras’ combined attack. Himari helps with recapturing Celebro, allowing Haruki to return to his Earth while Ignis continues his intergalactic search for treasures.

The movie then ends with a post-credit scene that teases the new Ultraman, Decker.[3]

Production

Ultraman Trigger: Episode Z is first announced by Tsuburaya Productions in the second Tsubucon stage announcement on December 13, 2021. The stage greeting presents the actors Raiga Terasaka, Kohshu Hirano and Yūichi Nakamura introducing themselves to the audience with Evil Trigger making his brief glimpse of appearance. Kohshu Hirano noted that since the series Ultraman Z lacks a movie adaptation, he had hopes to leave his mark for the franchise through his guest appearance.[4][5] Actor Yūichi Nakamura acknowledges that the voice actor who shares his name was the voice of the eponymous Ultraman X and jokingly commented that he was "mistakenly" picked by the series for this role.[6]

Releases

In addition to the film's availability in Japanese theaters, it is also available for viewing in Tsuburaya Imagination, a pay per view subscription service exclusively in Japan, hence the film's label as a "Tsuburaya Imagination original film".[1][2] Tsuburaya's English website later announces the movie's availability in certain countries outside Japan as a video on demand through Ultraman Connection website, followed by a talk show between the cast members, Raiga Terasaka, Runa Toyoda, Shunya Kaneko and Kohshu Hirano.[7][8] In addition to English, subtitles in other languages include Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian, Brazilian Portuguese, South American Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog and Korean.[9]

Cast

• Kengo Manaka (マナカ ケンゴ, Manaka Kengo)/Ultraman Trigger (ウルトラマントリガー, Urutoraman Torigā, Voice): Raiga Terasaka (寺坂 頼我, Terasaka Raiga)[1][2]
• Yuna Shizuma (シズマ ユナ, Shizuma Yuna): Runa Toyoda (豊田 ルナ, Toyoda Runa)[1][2]
• Akito Hijiri (ヒジリ アキト, Hijiri Akito): Shunya Kaneko (金子 隼也, Kaneko Shun'ya)[1][2]
• Himari Nanase (ナナセ ヒマリ, Nanase Himari): Meiku Harukawa (春川 芽生, Harukawa Meiku)[1][2]
• Tesshin Sakuma (サクマ テッシン, Sakuma Tesshin): Tadashi Mizuno (水野 直, Mizuno Tadashi)[1][2]
• Seiya Tatsumi (タツミ セイヤ, Tatsumi Seiya): Katsuya Takagi (高木 勝也, Takagi Katsuya)[1][2]
• Ignis (イグニス, Igunisu)/Trigger Dark (トリガーダーク, Torigā Dāku, Voice): Kei Hosogai (細貝 圭, Hosogai Kei)[1][2]
• Haruki Natsukawa (ナツカワ ハルキ, Natsukawa Haruki): Kohshu Hirano (平野 宏周, Hirano Kōshū)[1][2]
• Rylar Ibra (ライラー イブラ, Rairā Ibura): Akinori Ando (安藤 彰則, Andō Akinori)[1][2]
• Ryuichi Tokioka (トキオカ リュウイチ, Tokioka Ryūichi)/Evil Trigger (イーヴィルトリガー, Īviru Torigā, Voice): Yūichi Nakamura (中村 優一, Nakamura Yūichi)[1][2][10]
• Mitsukuni Shizuma (シズマ ミツクニ, Shizuma Mitsukuni): Shin Takuma (宅麻 伸, Takuma Shin)[1][2]
• Marluru (マルゥル, Marwuru, Voice): M・A・O[1][2]
• Ultraman Z (ウルトラマンゼット, Urutoraman Zetto, Voice): Tasuku Hatanaka (畠中 祐, Hanata Tasuku)[1][2]
• Beliarok (ベリアロク, Beriaroku, Voice): Yūki Ono (小野 友樹, Ono Yūki)[1][2]

Theme song

• Believer[1][2]
  • Lyrics: Sayuri Horishita (堀下 さゆり, Horishita Sayuri)[1][2]
  • Composition: Kosuke Morimoto (森元 康介, Morimoto Kōsuke)
  • Arrangement: Toru Watanabe (渡辺 徹, Watanabe Tōru) × Hirofumi Hibino (日比野 裕史, Hibino Hirofumi)[1][2]
  • Artist: Kengo Manaka, Yuna Shizuma, & Akito Hijiri (Raiga Terasaka, Runa Toyoda, & Shunya Kaneko)[1][2]

International broadcast

In Hong Kong, this film aired on ViuTV from September 24 to October 1, 2022 splitting into three parts.

References