Shigeru Hijikata

Shigeru Hijikata
Data
Type	Ally
Gender	Male
Age	39 years old
Affiliation	DASH
First Appearance	Ultraman Max episode 1 "Ultraman Max Arrives!"
Latest Appearance	Ultraman Max episode 40 "To the Ultra Future"
Portrayed by	Kai Shishido

Shigeru Hijikata is one of the main characters of Ultraman Max. He is the captain of DASH.

Personality

Hijikata is often regarded as an ideal and self-disciplined commander. When DASH gets dispatched, he often makes calm and objective judgments to attack monsters. Although he sometimes appears too serious and treats his teammates quite strictly, he, in fact, wholly trusts the performance of his subordinates.

He pays a lot of attention to his own opinions and decisions even if he gets refuted by others, he will argue with reason, and he has successfully seized the weakness of the Alien Shamer who intend to invade the Earth by using provocative generals. ^{Bright World}

Although he is usually disciplined, he has a humorous side. He is obsessed with rock music and heavy metal in private. ^{Pursuit at Supersonic Speed}

History

Ultraman Max

During an investigation to track Gomora, he and reporter Kanha Miyahara accidentally discovered the GSTE laboratory.^{Challenge from Underground}

During the series finale, he joins all members in watching Max leave Earth. ^{Hold On To! Future}

Merchandise

• Ultraman Max Deformed Pattern Acrylic Charm (2020)
  • Release Date(s):February 2021 (Premium Bandai)
  • Price: 550 yen for each piece
  • Materials: Acrylic, metal (chain)

Released as part of the Max-themed Deformed Pattern Acrylic Charm series to commemorate the show's 15th anniversary, Hijikata (which is drawn in an Anime-fied style) is one of the items to be produced as hanging acrylic keychain.

Hijikata (and the rest of the characters) is available as a later the Premium Bandai site in February 2021.

Gallery

Ultraman Max

Miscellaneous

Trivia

• According to an interview with Kai Shishido in 2021:
  • He initially received an invitation from director Shusuke Kaneko. At that time, he was not very familiar with the Ultraman series and felt a bit uncertain. However, after understanding the concept of reinterpreting old monsters, he agreed to join the series.
  • At first, Shishido thought he would be playing the protagonist, but later he learned he would be portraying a captain. He was even surprised and said, "Oh, I’m not transforming?"
  • Initially, Shishido's character was based on Jun Negami's portrayal of Ryu Ibuki from Return of Ultraman, the MAT captain known for keeping a distance from his team and rarely discussing personal matters. However, after interacting with younger actors, Shishido realized that times had changed. He decided to draw inspiration from Shoji Nakayama (UG captain Kiriyama from Ultraseven) and Akiji Kobayashi (SSSP captain Muramatsu from Ultraman), and combine these influences with Takahiko Tono (ZAT vice-captain Shuuhei Aragaki from Ultraman Taro). The approach was to interpret Hijikata with a combination of "captain Kiriyama + captain Muramatsu" and "vice-captain Arakaki."
  • However, once filming began, Shishido found himself gradually aligning more with Tono’s image. In the Ultraman Taro, Arakaki is depicted as a brotherly figure with a similar perspective to his team members. Shishido also felt that DASH's nature resembled that of ZAT.
  • When discussing the most challenging aspects of filming, Shishido mentioned that the DASH uniform, made of leather, caused significant discomfort in the hot climate. The lack of ventilation led to several instances of feeling faint and suffering from the accumulation of heat. During summer shoots, he even requested a reduction in the amount of time he had to wear the captain's outfit during outdoor scenes.