Kengo Manaka

"Smile, smile!"

―Kengo's catchphrase

Kengo Manaka (マナカケンゴ, Manaka Kengo) is the main protagonist of Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga. He is a member of the expert team GUTS-Select and Ultraman Trigger's reincarnation. With a sociable, kind, cheerful and hard-working personality, he has a fiery sense of justice that compels him to fight to protect humanity’s smiling faces as well as his closed ones.^[1]^[2]

History[]

Pre-Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga[]

"After a period of 30 million years, you were a miracle child born from the will of light - I knew it the moment I held you."

―Reina Manaka revealing the truth to Kengo, The Ruler of Shadows.

BabyKengo — Reina discovered the child of light

Thirty million years ago, Ultraman Trigger used up the last of his strength to banish his former comrades into deep space and crashed into the surface of Mars, creating an upside-down pyramid during the process where he slumbered for the rest of 30 million years. 21 years before the events of Ultraman Trigger, Trigger's light condensed into the body of a human infant. TPU researcher Reina Manaka, who had discovered the ruin, found the baby while exploring its interior. She chose to adopt the infant, knowing about the miraculous events that led to him existing, naming him "Kengo Manaka."

Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga[]

Kengo Manaka would spend his entire 21 years on the now-colonized Mars, and worked as a botanist under the Sizuma Foundation. He has a plant called R'lyeh (ルルイエ, Ruruie). He has had nightmares of a mysterious woman being wrapped in darkness, before a giant loomed over and cast a beam upon him.

MitsukuniDiscussingDreamWithKengoEp1 — Kengo is given the GUTS Sparklence and GUTS Hyper Key by Mitsukuni

Wanting to gather a soil sample from the ancient ruins found by his mother Reina Manaka, he went off to inspect the site. When Golba attacked, the ruins started to crumble, but he was protected from a falling rock overhead by a shield of light. At the same time, his hands and the giant sword in the ruins started to glow and react to him. Witnessing the distress of the people, Kengo is approached by Mitsukuni Shizuma, who granted him a GUTS Sparklence and an empty GUTS Hyper Key. His mother told him to "do what is right", leading him to go off to the ruins once again. The giant sword opens a hole to the bottom floor of the pyramid, where Kengo saw a giant statue of Ultraman Trigger, who gave him the light in order to transform after standing up to Carmeara. Trigger fought against Golba and Carmeara, destroying the former. After the battle, Mitsukuni offered Kengo to join the expert team GUTS-Select. ^{Connection of Light}

Kengo slipped into the past — Kengo traveled back to 30 million years ago

When Carmeara attacked Trigger, she unleashed a Curse of Darkness upon him and Kengo, causing Trigger's light to disappear. Kengo and Trigger fired the Zeperion Beam at the mass of darkness above him, which somehow opened a time rift and sent Kengo back to 30 million years ago. He met with the then-living Yuzare as well as Trigger Dark, fending him off while protecting Yuzare. However, Yuzare was eventually captured by the Giants of Darkness, and is made to open the gate to the Eternity Core. Kengo arrived too late, and is given the Ancient Sparklence. Yuzare called him "R'lyeh", meaning "hope" in her language, before he set off. Standing before the Eternity Core, Kengo used the Sparklence to bond with Trigger Dark. He found himself within Trigger Dark's Inner Space, and attempted to convince him to return to the light, but Trigger began attacking him instead. ^{The Encounter of Light and Darkness}

Kengo and Trigger Dark in Inner Space — Kengo encounters Trigger Dark inside his inner space

Eventually, Kengo managed to reach Trigger's heart, and found out that he and Trigger are one and the same. They became one and Trigger Dark turned from the darkness, becoming Ultraman Trigger Multi Type.

With both Triggers' presence, Multi Type, Power Type and Sky Type split into three entities, fought against Carmeara, Darrgon and Hudram respectively. They were losing at first until Yuzare sent the Eternity Core's power to Kengo at the cost of her own life. The light started to petrify Trigger and the Giants of Darkness until Trigger pushed his opponents into space while they turned into stone, with Trigger's own petrified remains landing on Mars and thus completing the time loop that started all these events.

Kengo is brought back to the present by another time vortex after hearing Akito and Yuna's voices calling for him. He transforms into Ultraman Trigger to fight against the Giants of Darkness including Trigger Dark, but is overwhelmed. Yuzare's spirit comes forth from the ring she left behind and through it, Yuna grants Trigger a fragment of the Eternity Core, allowing him to become Glitter Trigger Eternity. While his new power may be too much for him to handle, Trigger forced the three Giants of Darkness to retreat, and destroyed the rampaging Trigger Dark, reducing him into dark essence. ^{The 30-Million-Year Miracle}

Returning from his encounter with the ultra-ancient past, Kengo figured out that he was an incarnation of light, born from the light that grew inside Trigger, reawakened after 30 million years, which is why he is able to transform into Trigger. He suspected that his mother knew about it somehow, before she told him to go to the Earth knowing that he would learn the truth. ^{The Marked Captain: Detective Marluru's Case File} Kengo's learning of this led him to force himself to keep fighting as he believed he was reborn in this time for a reason, even if it would kill him in the process. He used the uncontrollable power of Glitter Trigger Eternity to fight Darebolic and Absolute Diavolo at the cost of his own health. ^{The Golden Threat}

Ribut's dance training — Ribut training Kengo

After Diavolo's retreat, Ribut decided to train Kengo so that he can learn to control Glitter Trigger Eternity's power, with Yuna taking part as well so that she can learn to face her destiny as Yuzare's descendant. First, Ribut sparred with Kengo, telling him that he was out of focus. He then got the two others to dance in sync with him to get them to empty their minds. When they succeeded, Ribut knocked out Kengo and got Yuna to reawaken him using Yuzare's powers. Kengo realized that while he was the incarnation of Trigger's light, he was also human, and stopped pushing himself so hard. After Diavolo appeared and had his energy drained, Trigger, Ribut and the Nursedessei, now in Battle Mode, fought against Diavolo. Kengo was now able to control the Eternity Core's power, unleashing several finishers successively on Diavolo. With the help of Ribut and GUTS-Select, Diavolo was defeated. Trigger performed the Cross Touch with Ribut, thanking him for his help and sending him off back to the Galaxy Rescue Force. ^{Operation Dragon}

Kengo continued his battles as Ultraman Trigger, facing off many threats and enemies including a Kyrieloid and several other attacks from the Giants of Darkness, including Trigger Dark until Ignis gained control over his power. Eventually, both Hudram and then Darrgon died and had their darkness absorbed by Carmeara, who made her way to the Eternity Core and became Megalothor, who was powerful enough to defeat Trigger and Trigger Dark while destabilizing the Eternity Core's energy. After being knocked out, Kengo somehow projected his spirit onto Mars where his mother was, and found out about his past from her, before going back to Earth to deal with Megalothor.

After some reconciliation, the team had come to the conclusion that a power equal to Megalothor's was needed in order to blow it away. Kengo and Ignis were reminded that Trigger was once a giant of darkness, and that Trigger Dark was once able to use Glitter Trigger Eternity's power, which gave them the idea of restoring Trigger to his "true" self by combining light and darkness. Betting everything on this last gamble, Ignis gave Trigger Dark's power to Kengo's Multi Type key, changing it into the Trigger Truth key. With this new item, Kengo transformed into Trigger Truth, who wielded the powers of both light and darkness within him, to fight Megalothor again, with Carmeara inside the monster cursing at him for his new form. While Trigger was able to put up a better fight this time, he was still overwhelmed, and knocked into the sea.

Even in this dark time, the children of the world refused to give up hope, and cheered for Trigger despite his seeming defeat. Their cheers resonated with the people around them, and soon, they gave their light to Trigger, restoring his energy. Trigger held off Megalothor while Yuna gathered the excess Eternity Core energy into the Nursedessei, with her teammates protecting her from copies of Darrgon and Hudram spawned from Megalothor's darkness. When enough energy was gathered, the copies were banished by the golden light, which was fired at Trigger, boosting him up further for his final attack, True Timer Flash, which pierced through and destroyed Megalothor.

KengoEternityCore — Kengo sacrifices himself to control the Eternity Core

With the Ruler of Shadows destroyed, the sun's light returned to the Earth. Kengo had one last conversation with Carmeara before she died, realizing the warmth of the light as she disappeared. However, the Eternity Core was still on the verge of collapsing, which could cause a Big Bang in the worst case scenario. To protect everyone's smiles and futures, Kengo had bid farewell to his friends while promising Akito that he would return eventually. Before leaving, Kengo had the opportunity to see his plant R'lyeh bloom. He transformed into Trigger and reached the Eternity Core, sacrificing himself by becoming one with it to stabilize its energy. ^{To the Ones Who Believe in Smiles / Pull the Trigger}

Unknown to him and everyone else, all of his actions had been predicted and watched over by Zabil and his cult, the Leyrah.

Ultraman Trigger: Episode Z[]

After two years of stabilizing the Eternity Core, Kengo's life started to fade away as he was being consumed by it. Should that happen, the "light" would disappear and Kengo would die along with it, putting the world at risk once again. He appeared to Yuna in a vision, alerting her of the danger he was in. Both GUTS-Select and the Leyrah cult detected the problem and, despite being enemies, decided to cooperate on a plan to displace Kengo from the Eternity Core and stabilize it.

They agreed to use the energy of the Sun, fired at the Eternity Core by using the Sol satellite that the TPU had built. The Leyrah cultists attached devices they built to the pillars around the Eternity Core's entrance to change the sunlight's energy into a form of light that can be accepted by the Eternity Core, successfully managing to remove Kengo from it. However, in the process, his GUTS Hyper Keys scattered out and went missing. GUTS-Select threw a party for Kengo to celebrate his return, but Kengo was having doubts over continuing to be part of GUTS-Select, as he had been relying on his power as Ultraman Trigger the whole time. His doubts came back to haunt him when Pagos reappeared, but Ultraman Z came from his world and defeated the monster. Haruki then talked to Kengo to cheer him up, before they started looking for the missing Hyper Keys.

Kengo and Haruki reclaimed the Multi Type key from a Leyrah cultist who had somehow gained it, not knowing that Celebro was among them. A Gazort had possession of the Sky Type Key suddenly appeared, forcing Kengo to transform into Ultraman Trigger. He managed to recover the Sky Type Key by forcing Gazort to regurgitate it, with help from the GUTS Falcon. He then changed into Sky Type and destroyed Gazort using the Sky Arrow. A Genegarg and Deathdrago suddenly appeared, and Trigger fought them with the help of Ultraman Z. They were struggling until Yuna and Akito manage to find the Power Type Key in a haunted house, and passed it back to Kengo so that he can Type Change to Power Type, and finish off the two monsters.

However, Ultraman Z went berserk as a result of Celebro possessing Haruki, who then defeated Trigger. He had his GUTS Sparklence and Hyper Keys taken by the Leyrah cultists, who were working in cooperation with Celebro so that their leader Zabil, who was Captain Tokioka in disguise, can create the "light" for himself and become Evil Trigger. While Ignis came back and fought both Z and Evil Trigger, Kengo and Akito break through the barrier they set up and retrieve the devices, allowing Trigger to join the battle. He managed to get Haruki to overcome Celebro's control, and the three Ultras ganged up on Evil Trigger.

Zabil started to succumb to his desires, tainting his "light" with his own darkness, becoming more powerful at the cost of his own sanity. Celebro also took over the Leyrah leader, and summoned Destrudos, giving the three Ultra Warriors a difficult time. Yuna then decided to sacrifice Yuzare's powers, and the entrance to the Eternity Core, so that she can take a fragment of the Eternity Core and give it to Trigger, allowing him to become Glitter Trigger Eternity. They defeated Destrudos easily and then confronted Evil Trigger, who had grown to giant size because of the darkness inside him. Still, Evil Trigger was no match for the three of them, and shattered to pieces after being hit by a combined beam attack.

Afterwards, Kengo went on living with his comrades at GUTS-Select, accepting that he was both light and darkness, human and Ultraman.^{Ultraman Trigger: Episode Z}

Ultraman Decker[]

Kengo Manaka Decker 2 — Kengo gets the Ultra Dimension Cards and Ultra Dual Sword from Yuzare.

Trigger had been defending the civilization on Mars from the attack of the Spheres.^[3]^[4] One day, a vision of Yuzare, who appeared to be different, appeared to Kengo and gave him the Ultra Dual Sword and Ultra Dimension Cards, saying that he is needed on the Earth. By having Akito modify the Sphere Soldier card, Kengo was able to use its ability to pass through the Sphere Barrier that was enveloping the Earth. He arrived just in time to help Ultraman Decker fend off the emerging tentacles of Sphere-Megalothor. He then introduced himself to Kanata Asumi and the new members of GUTS-Select, updating them on the situation on Mars as well.

Soon after, Sphere-Megalothor revealed itself, appearing in a tornado of darkness like it did the last time. Trigger and Decker fought against her, with the former brandishing the Ultra Dual Sword for the first time. However, after managing to wound Sphere-Megalothor, Kengo was able to see Carmeara inside it. Hesitating to strike them down, Megalothor took the opportunity to escape. ^{The Light of Hope from the Red Planet} In the aftermath of the battle, Kanata questioned Kengo on why he refused to attack, to which Kengo replied that he wanted to fight so that others, including Carmeara, could smile. This made Kanata realize that he did not really have a goal in mind for being Ultraman, and fought just because he had the power to do so.

Later on, Gijeran emerged and put many people under the influence of its hallucinogenic pollen, which put Kengo under great distress as the plant resembled his R'lyeh. It grew to giant size after GUTS-Select had investigated it, and was destroyed by using a specialized herbicide provided to them by Yuna Shizuma from her father's research on Gijeran. GUTS-Select was about to get rid of the remains by blasting it away with the Neo Maxima Nurse Cannon, but Megalothor emerged again, which prompted Kengo and Kanata to transform. Seeing Kengo's resolve to rescue Carmeara from within Megalothor, Kanata decided to help him and find his own reason for fighting as well. With additional help from Yuzare, the three of them manage to pull Carmeara out of Megalothor. The three giants then fought against Megalothor together and destroyed the monster, but in the process, the Spheres somehow learned of the Eternity Core by coming into contact with Trigger during the fight.

After the battle was over, Kengo decided to hand the Ultra Dual Sword and the Ultra Dimension Cards to Kanata, entrusting them to him to use them to defend the Earth as Yuzare wished. He bid farewell to Kanata and then Yuna, before he left the Earth with Carmeara. ^{Light and Darkness, Again}

Kengo Manaka Decker 19 — Kengo and Kanata reunite on the moon

Sometimes later, Akito had discovered that the Spheres were forming a nest on the abandoned TPU Moon Base and sent Kengo to investigate. On his way, he encountered Ultraman Decker once again, having been thrown into space via Yapool's dimensional hole, and was being attacked by the Spheres. After freeing Kanata from his capture, he and Kengo went to the moon base together to eliminate the Spheres residing there on the way, Kengo gave Kanata a video player containing a message from his parents on Mars. Yapool then appeared in front of them and reactivated the dormant Zomborg Soldiers to fight the two, intending to kill both Ultramen. Separated from Kanata in the scuffle, Kengo was forced into a lower area where the Spheres gathered, catching him by surprise and swarming him, extracting his memories for the location of the Eternity Core as they attempted to assimilate him. Fortunately, Kanata arrived in time to help, transforming into Ultraman Decker to destroy the Spheres and give Kengo the opportunity to transform as well as they both eliminated the Spheres by the dozens, before moving on to defeating Yapool after he had been drained by the Spheres.

The Spheres retreated from their nest and coalesced inside a Galactron MK2 that had been laid there to be used as an invasion vessel. Determined to stop Galactron before it could go to either Earth or Mars, Trigger and Decker used their Type Changes and weapons to coordinate a combined assault on the Sphere-possessed robot and finally ended the battle after changing to Glitter Trigger Eternity and Dynamic Type, using the Ultra Dual Sword's Glitter Zeperion Break and Decker Shield Calibur's Decker Flash Dynamic to cleave Galactron MK2 apart. With the battle concluded, Kengo gave Kanata the Sphere Mons Dimension Card so that Kanata could return to the Earth. ^{Warriors on the Moon}

Kengo was sent out by Akito again when a strange energy signal was detected around the Earth. Pursuing the source, Kengo encountered a wormhole that opened up just outside the Earth, unleashing the Mother Spheresaurus from within. Trigger changed into Glitter Trigger Eternity to challenge the monster. ^{The Sky of Despair} He failed to defeat it, crash landing onto the Earth just after the Sphere Barrier had been destroyed before being joined by Decker and Terraphaser in battle, but all three of them lost to Mother Spheresaurus with both Ultras being reverted back to their human forms, and Agams dying in the Terraphaser being in the process. ^{End of a Dream} After regrouping within the downed Nursedessei, GUTS-Select and Kengo had to come up with a plan - Operation T/D/G^[5] - to defeat Mother Spheresaurus, finding out about its weak point, the core on its chest, from data left behind in the Phase Riser. Challenging Mother Spheresaurus again, Kengo transformed into Glitter Trigger Eternity to forcefully drain the Eternity Core energy that Mother Spheresaurus had absorbed, transferring that power to Kanata so that he could transform into Ultraman Decker.

Kengo Manaka Decker 25 4 — Kengo watches as Decker wins

Drained of his own power, Kengo continued to fight from the ground, shooting at the Mother Spheresaurus. Enduring a long and difficult battle, Mother Spheresaurus was finally defeated, erasing the presence of the Spheres throughout the Earth and on Mars, ending their threat once and for all. Kanata and Kengo watched as the ships from Mars started to return to Earth now that the Sphere Barrier had been destroyed for good. ^{The Light Far Beyond}

Ultraman Decker Finale: Journey to Beyond[]

Nursedessei leaves the solar system — Kengo and the others aboard Nursedessei have already left the solar system.

Kengo did not appear in the movie, but according to Kanata, six months after the Sphere incident, Kengo joined the space exploration team and embarked on a space journey aboard a spacecraft with other former members of GUTS-Select. According to news reports, one year later, Kengo and the space exploration team have already passed through the solar system and reached the Pluto region, and are currently pushing forward towards even farther destinations.

Due to the long journey, Kengo did not participate in the battle that took place on Earth with Gibellus. ^{Ultraman Decker Finale: Journey to Beyond}

Transformation[]

1
2

"Build the future, the light of hope! Ultraman Trigger!"

―Transformation phrase for Ultraman Trigger Multi Type

"Illuminate the universe, the Ultra-Ancient light! Ultraman Trigger!"

―Transformation phrase for Glitter Trigger Eternity

Kengo converts the GUTS Sparklence into its Sparklence mode, loads it with an Ultraman Trigger GUTS Hyper Key, and by pulling the trigger held skywards he transforms into Ultraman Trigger.^[1]^[2]

Powers and Weapons[]

Inhuman Abilities: Due to being Ultraman Trigger's reincarnation, Kengo possesses multiple superhuman abilities including:
- Vision: Not so much of an ability, due to him being reincarnation of Trigger, Kengo is able to instantly comprehend the knowledge of Trigger's abilities, information and images of a Giant of Darkness through visions that constantly appear in his mind.
- Barrier: Kengo is able to generate an energy shield to defend himself.
- Energy Punch: A punch attack with his hand coated in energy.
- Ultra-Ancient Linguistics: Kengo is able to understand the language of the Ultra-Ancient Civilization that the Giants of Darkness speak.
- Enhanced Durability: Kengo is able to survive falls from several stories and take lashes from Carmeara's whip.
GUTS Sparklence: Kengo's Transformation Item and personal weapon.
GUTS Hyper Keys: Devices used in conjunction with the GUTS Sparklence for a variety of purposes.
GUTS Buckle (GUTS（ガッツ）バックル, Gattsu Bakkuru): A belt used to store his GUTS Sparklence and GUTS Hyper Keys.^[6]
Circle Arms (サークルアームズ, Sākuru Āmuzu): Kengo uses this weapon while fighting as Trigger.
Ancient Sparklence: Given to Kengo by Yuzare after he traveled back in time, it allows him to fuse with Trigger Dark.
Glitter Blade (グリッターブレード, Gurittā Burēdo): Kengo wields this weapon, while assuming his Glitter Trigger Eternity form.
Ultra Dimension Cards: Given by Future Yuzare, it allows Kengo to harness their power through the Ultra Dual Sword.
Sphere Soldier's Mons Dimension Card: A card which represents the Sphere Soldiers, Kengo uses it to give Trigger the ability to mimic Sphere's energy reading.

Collectibles in Possession[]

GUTS Hyper Keys[]

Ultraman Trigger
- Multi Type Key
- Power Type Key
- Sky Type Key
- Glitter Trigger Eternity Key

Kaiju Keys[]

Ultra Dimension Cards[]

Ultraman Trigger
- Multi Type (given to Kanata Asumi)
- Power Type (given to Kanata Asumi)
- Sky Type (given to Kanata Asumi)
- Glitter Trigger Eternity

Mons Dimension Cards[]

Sphere Soldier (given to Kanata Asumi)

Merchandise[]

Figuarts Mini[]

Kengo Manaka (2022)
- Release Date: June 2022
- Price: 2,700 yen
- JAN/ISBN: 4573102632494
- Materials PVC, ABS
- Accessories: Alternate right arm (with GUTS Sparklence), alternate left arm

Figuarts Mini Kengo Manaka is a animified chibi figure, featuring minimal points of articulation on the neck, the shoulders and hips. He also comes with swappable shoulder parts to recreate his transformation into Trigger.

Kengo Ultraman Trigger Deformed Pattern Acrylic Charm

Ultraman Trigger Deformed Pattern Acrylic Charm (2021)
- Release Date(s): November 2021 (Premium Bandai)
- Price: 550 yen for each piece
- Materials: Acrylic, metal (chain)

Released as part of the Trigger-themed Deformed Pattern Acrylic Charm series, Kengo (which is drawn in an Anime-fied style) is one the items to be produced as hanging acrylic keychain.

Kengo (and the rest of the characters) is available as a made-for-order item (where the customers can choose one during purchase) for Premium Bandai in November 2021.