Ultraman: Monster Mugen

Ultraman: Monster Mugen
Information
Release Date(s)	Unproduced
Directed by	Akio Jissoji
Written by	Mamoru Sasaki

Ultraman: Monster Mugen is an unreleased film. This film was planned in response to the superhero craze in China during the 1990s and was a Japanese-Chinese co-production. It was known as the "Ultraman 30th Anniversary Commemorative Film".

However, due to circumstances on the Chinese side and overseas rights issues with Chaiyo Productions, the project was discontinued and production was halted. The 30th anniversary commemorative project was ultimately replaced by Ultraman Zearth.

Synopsis

In the early 21st century, with the resolution of frequent regional and ethnic conflicts following the end of the East-West Cold War, human bloodshed has become a thing of the past. The world is preparing to enter a new era of peace and prosperity. The Far East has emulated the European Union by establishing the Far East Asian Union (FEAU), allowing for free movement and currency unification in the Far East, further promoting interpersonal and material exchanges between countries. Among these changes, Shanghai underwent an astonishing transformation.

TDG is a global organization aimed at protecting humanity from unknown threats such as supernatural phenomena, monster attacks, and alien invasions. The Far East division responsible for East Asia is based in Shanghai, with a secret base located hundreds of meters underground near the Zhoushan Islands off the coast of Shanghai. Additionally, it has a special attack force known as SPECT.

The film follows a protagonist who was born in China but later returned to Japan. The story revolves around his visit to Shanghai to reconnect with his childhood friends, only to discover that everyone living there has changed.

Gallery

Trivia

• According to Mamoru Sasaki, the screenplay for the film is based on the theme of "Japan's invasion of China during World War II." It was said that the main character was initially proposed to be played by Ken Takakura, which led to the script being entirely designed as a story for adults.
• A draft of the script for this play was made public on a sales website in 2014. Another draft script with a different title, "Ultraman: To Fly Toward the Distant Dream ," was discovered in 2011 at the Mamoru Sasaki Memorial Room in Nomi City, Ishikawa Prefecture. In July of that same year, it was exhibited for the first time at the Nomi City Museum during the special Mamoru Sasaki exhibition.
• The original Ultraman's mask that appeared in the drama was later modified to be used as Ultraman Neos's mask, which only appeared in the 1995 pilot. In a now-deleted 2018 Twitter post, Hiroshi Maruyama mentioned, "The characters 'Neos' and 'Ultraseven 21' were created for current activities (stage plays). While the mask design was reused for 'Neos,' these characters, including 'Drengeran,' have no connection to the development plans in China."