Ryu Manatsu is a Japanese actor, singer and voice actor. His real name is Mikio Seto . He is best known for his role as Gen Otori, the main protagonist and human form of Ultraman Leo. He also sang the theme song and two insert themes for Ultraman Leo and is a member of the Ultraman Foundation.
Career[]
Manatsu had dreamed of becoming an actor since childhood, greatly influenced by his high school senior, Kyu Sakamoto. With the goal of becoming an actor, he started his career as a singer at a club in Yokohama. In 1972, Manatsu made his debut in television dramas under his real name, Mikio Seto.
In 1974, Manatsu was selected to play the lead role of Gen Otori in Ultraman Leo. At the time, he was introduced by director Tadashi Mafune, who had visited his club as a guest. Mafune then arranged for Manatsu to meet with Tsuburaya Productions producer Ken Kumagai and TBS's Yoji Hashimoto for a five-minute casting interview. The decision to cast Manatsu as the lead was made on the same day. It is said that Manatsu was chosen because of his previous experience in practicing Shorinji Kempo, which made him capable of performing action scenes, a decisive factor in the selection process.[1][2]
The filming of the early episodes of Ultraman Leo was a very intense and difficult experience for Manatsu, with the training that Dan Moroboshi gives to Gen proving painful and difficult to enact. During the filming of episode 8, he was paralyzed from the waist down because of a scene in which Gen sits under a waterfall in the freezing cold.[3][4][5][6][7]
Afterward, Manatsu continued to appear in numerous television dramas and films, and he worked as a producer at the anime company Staff 21 as an animation producer under his real name. After Staff 21 ceased operations, he returned to acting, taking on supporting roles in various TV series, including historical dramas and Taiga dramas, while also becoming active as a voice actor in anime.[8]
In 2004, he was diagnosed with terminal-stage stomach cancer, but after undergoing treatment, he overcame the illness and fully recovered.[9][10] Since 2006, he has been actively participating in events related to the Ultraman Series. Alongside his acting career, Manatsu has also collaborated with the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Performer Dispatch Program, giving folklore lectures at kindergartens, elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools.[11]
Roles[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Ultraman Leo | Gen Otori/Ultraman Leo | Voice (Ultraman Leo) |
| 1984 | Anime-chan | Editor | |
| 2006 | Ultraman Max | Stationed Police Officer | Episode 33 "Welcome! To the Earth: Part 1: The Science of the Planet Baltan" Episode 34 "Welcome! To the Earth: Part 2: Farewell! Alien Baltan" |
| Ultraman Mebius | Gen Otori/Ultraman Leo[12] | Voice (Ultraman Leo) Episode 34 "The Man Without a Home" | |
| 2009 | Mega Monster Battle Ultra Galaxy: The Movie | Ultraman Leo | Voice |
| 2010 | Ultra Galaxy Legend Gaiden: Ultraman Zero vs. Darklops Zero | ||
| Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial | |||
| 2011 | Ultimate Force Zero: Another Space Adventure | ||
| 2012 | Ultraman Saga | Gen Otori/Ultraman Leo | Voice (Ultraman Leo) |
| 2015 | Ultra Fight Victory | Ultraman Leo | Voice |
Stage[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Ultraman Premier Stage 3 | Gen Otori/Ultraman Leo | Voice (Ultraman Leo) |
| 2011 | Ultraman Premier 2011 | ||
| 2014 | 3 Major Tokusatsu Hero Festival | Ultraman Leo[13] | Voice |
Stock grunts[]
This section refers to Manatsu's grunts being reused per stock audio in other Ultraman Series media:
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Ultraman Leo | Ultraseven | Lower-pitch Episode 1 "The Day When Ultraseven Dies, is the Day when Tokyo Sinks!" |
| Astra | |||
| 2006 | Ultraman Mebius | Ultraman Leo | Episode 1 "A Fateful Encounter" Episode 50 "Words from the Heart -Final Trilogy III-" |
| Ultraman Mebius Gaiden: Hikari Saga | SAGA 1: Arb's Tragedy | ||
| 2013 | Ultraman Ginga | Dark Spark War flashbacks in episodes 1, 7, 11 | |
| 2017 | Ultraman Geed | Episode 1 "Welcome to the Secret Base" Ultra Capsule in other episodes | |
| 2020 | Ultraman Z | Ultra Medal | |
| 2021 | Sevenger Fight | Episode 10 "Time for the Eye of the Lion to Shine" | |
| Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga | Ultra Medal Episode 8 "The Propagating Invasion" |
Video games[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Ultraman Fighting Evolution 2 | Ultraman Leo | |
| 2004 | Ultraman Fighting Evolution 3 | ||
| 2006 | Ultraman Fighting Evolution 0 | ||
| 2015 | Lost Heroes 2 |
Other Roles[]
- Engine Sentai Go-Onger - Toujirou Fuji
- Outer Man - Chief Oshima
Discography[]
- Ultraman Leo
- Ultraman Leo (Opening)
- Hoshizora no Ballad
- MAC no March
Gallery[]
Miscellaneous[]
![Ryu with Jiro Dan, Susumu Kurobe, Kohji Moritsugu and Keiji Takamine at Ultraman Festival 2014[14]](/wiki/File:6777_623729991080196_560273325271993382_n.jpg "6777 623729991080196 560273325271993382 n.jpg (26 KB)")
Trivia[]
- In episode 3 and 4, although the scene of special training the chop toward the basin is famous, at the time of this shooting is actually in the middle of winter, his lower body had paralyzed past the cold. In the very beginning when Ryu Manatsu are asked your impressions of shooting in Leo also at the time of the magazine, "No, I'm strong in the name exactly as midsummer, but the middle of winter is painful." And enough to comment. Comments made after is so "It was really dying too too cold."
- Even in special training scenes other than the above, Gen Otori of the force of the screen "Jeep special lesson" in episode 6 was not only acting by Ryu, but realistic harshness itself. Special training that confronts opponents with the pointed log with the same story is also a very dangerous scene, but this special scene was full story no stunt. Regarding jeep training, "I confessed in a later interview that I was told that" When I protest that I will be thrown out and die "if there is a photo taken with a sweet braking jeep and saying" Next time " It is.
- Besides the above special training scenes, all the actions of Gen Otori were all handled by Ryu Manatsu himself. Good of the height and the action of the body's ability, even Kohji Moritsugu, the actor who portrayed Dan Moroboshi and Ultraseven's voice actor, was co-starred has acclaimed in his own book.
- The policeman Manatsu plays in Ultraman Max wears a ring resembling the Leo Ring.
- Manatsu is friends with Saburo Shinoda, the actor who played Ultraman Taro's human host, Kotaro Higashi.
- The two have yet to appear together in the Ultraman Series.
- Their sons were classmates.
- When Ryu suffered from gastric cancer in 2004, Shinoda helped him find a second opinion and get treatment.
- In 2013, they, along with Kohji Moritsugu, appeared in a travel show together.[15]
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ https://hochi.news/articles/20240612-OHT1T51129.html?page=1
- ↑ https://animageplus.jp/articles/detail/26887
- ↑ http://tokusatsunetwork.com/2015/01/15/video-ryu-manatsu-ultraman-leo-attend-super-festival-67/
- ↑ https://hochi.news/articles/20240612-OHT1T51135.html?page=1
- ↑ https://hochi.news/articles/20240612-OHT1T51138.html?page=1
- ↑ https://www.sankei.com/article/20180828-DFXV37GNCVJDLIOOT7ILOIUE6U/
- ↑ https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000002473.000001355.html
- ↑ https://hochi.news/articles/20240612-OHT1T51143.html?page=1
- ↑ https://hochi.news/articles/20240612-OHT1T51146.html?page=1
- ↑ https://www.nikkan-gendai.com/articles/view/health/347180
- ↑ http://miida.cocolog-nifty.com/nattou/2015/11/post-6eb8.html
- ↑ https://news.mynavi.jp/article/20181020-ultraman/
- ↑ https://m-78.jp/news/n-2661
- ↑ https://m-78.jp/news/n-2642
- ↑ https://m-78.jp/news/n-2022