Kenji Tabata

Kenji Tabata
Data
Type	Ally
Gender	Male
Age	28 years old
Affiliation	KCB
First Appearance	Ultraman Gaia episode 1 "Seize the Light!"
Latest Appearance	Ultraman Gaia episode 51 "Earth is Ultraman's Star"
Portrayed by	Hiroshi Tsuburaya

Kenji Tabata is a character in Ultraman Gaia. He is the director of KCB.

History

Ultraman Gaia

Kenji Tabate was the director of the KBC News bureau, and was skeptic of GUARD, secretly analysed them and XIG. He lives by the creed "properly investigate the facts", and is known to dash bravely into dangerous sites, he also has a strong coverage attitude and will bite at the boss when asking questions to get to the truth. He acts tough to Rinbun, but on the other hand is friendly with Reiko Yoshii. In the final episode, he, along with Reiko and Rinbun, played a critical role in influencing the fate of humankind, by reporting the battle between the Ultramen and Zog.

Ultraman Gaia: Gaia Again

In Ultraman Gaia: Gaia Again, it was mentioned that he was doing interviews in Bosnia.

Gallery

Ultraman Gaia

KCB Members

Trivia

• Tabata's actor Hiroshi Tsuburaya played Seiji Miyata in the earlier Ultraman Dyna, and Tabata was also Hiroshi Tsuburaya's last character in the series before his death in 2000.
• According to Chiaki J. Konaka, he only had one conversation with Hiroshi Tsuburaya, which occurred backstage during the media event for Ultraman Gaia. At that time, Tsuburaya was teaching Takeshi Yoshioka some wire-action techniques. When Tsuburaya learned that Konaka was the series compositor, he appeared quite uneasy and, with a flushed face, shared his concern: "Ultraman is meant for kids, but this script is too hard to understand." Considering that the world-building in Ultraman Gaia was more intricate than in other series, Konaka doesn’t clearly remember his exact words, but he recalls responding to Tsuburaya with something like, "Don’t worry, we’ll make it easier to understand."
  • During the third quarter of the series, Hiroshi Tsuburaya's health deteriorated due to alcoholic liver disease, and doctors declared that he could no longer participate in the filming. However, the absence of Tabata and Rinbun would have left the story structure of KCB incomplete. As a result, Konaka repeatedly suggested to producer Masato Oida that it might be possible to bring Tabata back. Near the final episodes, Tabata's return was finally approved, and he briefly returned to the series.
  • Initially, Konaka envisioned Tabata as a calm, composed professional from the industry. In the early stages of the series, Konaka wondered if Tsuburaya could portray the character in a more restrained manner. However, as the story progressed, the image of Tabata as portrayed by Tsuburaya gained approval from the audience. This led Konaka to revise his plans for the character, eventually portraying Tabata as a passionate and energetic figure.