Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light is a tokusatsu Kaiju movie produced by Tsuburaya Productions in 1998. This film is the only theatrical spin-off of the Ultraman Dyna TV series. It was screened alongside Ultra Nyan 2: The Great Happy Operation.
The series can be watched on Tubi and Shout.
Continuity[]
The movie takes place between episode 26 and episode 30. The TPC Chronology, while considered unofficial, states the story is set in 2018, taking place before episode 29.[1]
Production[]
This film marks the first feature film based on the Ultraman TV series from the Heisei era and the first to premiere during the television series' broadcast period. The project stemmed from the success of the Ultraman Zearth series, prompting distributor Shochiku to approach Tsuburaya Productions with a proposal to make Ultraman a regularly screened theatrical release. Initially, the plan was to create Ultraman Zearth 3, but ultimately, a special film featuring both Ultraman Tiga and Ultraman Dyna was produced as an extended version of the Ultraman Dyna TV series. Director Kazuya Konaka, having gained producer Kiyoshi Suzuki's approval for his impressive work on Ultraman Zearth 2: Superhuman Big Battle - Light and Shadow, was invited to continue as the director.
This film builds on the setting of Dyna, taking place seven years after the finale of Ultraman Tiga. To bridge the storyline, former GUTS captain Megumi Iruma makes an appearance, serving as a catalyst for Tiga’s return. According to Hiroyasu Shibuya, Tiga is symbolized as the "Light of Hope" for all children, with the story suggesting that adults who hold onto hope can also find their path to light. The film also features former GUTS members in cameo appearances. Although these characters would later reappear in the series, the initial setting during filming assumed that all members, except Iruma, had left TPC, and thus they appear in civilian attire.
The initial planning for the film began in July 1997, with the storyline outline completed by the end of the month. The first and second drafts were finished by the first week of August, and the script was essentially finalized by August 13. During the fourth draft, adjustments were made on August 27 due to Hiroshi Nagano's scheduling conflicts, leading to the development of a storyline without his character, Daigo. The final approved draft was completed on September 11.[2]
During pre-production, the team only had access to the first two episodes of Ultraman Dyna, leaving them uncertain about how the series' storyline would evolve by the film's release six months later. Therefore, screenwriter Keiichi Hasegawa added some speculative elements: he envisioned that by then, Dyna would have grown stronger but might face a turning point, grappling with the risk of losing touch with his humanity due to his newfound power. Based on this premise, Hasegawa incorporated Asuka's journey of self-growth and a revival of people’s memories of light, hoping these elements would align seamlessly with the unfolding story.[2]
The idea of having GUTS collaborate with Super GUTS came from producer Kiyoshi Suzuki. Director Kazuya Konaka crafted a basic story outline and created prop documents for the TPC conference scenes. Following this draft, Konaka and Hasegawa held multiple discussions and made adjustments at a nearby café by the studio.[2]
In terms of special effects, the film not only showcased the detailed miniature models but also integrated extensive CGI, using motion capture for both Ultramen to achieve realistic movements. The biggest challenge was creating large monsters that couldn’t be fully realized with props alone. Thus, the Deathfacer, possessing all of Dyna's data, was created; even Tiga had to appear to assist, making the storyline more impactful.[2]
Upon its release during the spring break, Tiga & Dyna drew a massive audience, becoming a major hit. This success led the production committee—comprising Tsuburaya Productions, Shochiku, Bandai Visual, TBS, Mainichi Broadcasting System, Kodansha, and Yomiuri Advertising—to establish a plan for Ultraman films to become an annual theatrical release, cementing a one-film-per-year schedule.
In March 2021, as part of the TDG series' 25th anniversary celebration, Tsuburaya Productions streamed the film on YouTube for a limited time from April 18 to May 5.[3]
Plot[]
The members of Super GUTS track a monster to the moon, where it battles Ultraman Dyna. This creature, named Geranda, proves resilient to Dyna's usual finishing moves (Solgent Beam). The next round of fight is very short because the monster abruptly vaporized in large yellow beam that unleashed from a mysterious space-battleship.
Upon returning to Earth, the Super GUTS team goes to a secret island base stationed on Coreomoes Island (first debuted in Ultraman Tiga). Here they discover that TPC, the organization they work for, is also responsible for building the space-battleship. The ship known as Prometheus, and its devastating main weapon is the Neo-Maxima Cannon. The project leader, Dr. Kisaragi, explains that Super GUTS has been summoned so that their brainwaves can be used to give real-battle experiences to the battle computer of Prometheus, making it an even more effective weapon. The cocky young Shin Asuka (Ultraman Dyna's human alter ego) doubts that Prometheus can ever be as effective as Dyna at defending the Earth. He accepts the challenge, and his thoughts are fed into the ship's computer.
When Asuka regains consciousness, the base is attacked by an alien spaceship, with energy waves identical to that found from Geranda, and Asuka transforms into Ultraman Dyna to face the alien UFO. Prometheus is also launched, but to destroy Dyna, not assist him. Dr. Kisaragi announces that both she and Prometheus are under the control of the alien race known as the Monera. Prometheus, Mollusionized into Deathfacer, is able to anticipate and counter all of Dyna's moves due its knowledge of the Ultra based on Asuka's brain scan result. The one-sided battle ends when the Neo-Maxima Cannon devastates the island. Dyna disappears and is presumed dead.
While Super GUTS regroups and finds out that they have all survived, including Asuka, however, Mai was wounded gravely for not being able to escape the base fast enough. The Monera then announced that they will begin exterminating humanity at noon the next day through Dr. Kisaragi and return her soul to the body. After talking with the original GUTS leader, Captain Iruma, Asuka regains his confidence and transforms into Ultraman Dyna, and while doing that changes Dyna to Strong Type. This time, Dyna is ready for Deathfacer and shows the robot some devastating new tricks, as he defeats Deathfacer by driving his fist through Neo-Maxima Cannon when it does 'pre-shoot charging sequence'. Dyna then throws unstable Deathfacer into the air, before it explodes. However, the Monera commit Harmonosion to form the gigantic Queen Monera which captures Dyna and instantly devastates the city. Dyna tries to escape, and Super GUTS, as well as Captain Iruma, try to aid, but Dyna's energy is drained completely and his timer runs out, dying.
With Dyna defeated, the Earth may be finished. However, a young boy suddenly appears from before (he talked to Asuka first, then came Captain Hibiki and finally Iruma) returned and told all that he will not give up because he believed in Ultraman Tiga. The boy then holds up the Tiga action figure given to him by his brother, and with encouraging words from Dr. Kisaragi, the boy allowed all to remember the time from before when Tiga had lost to Gatanothor, and when they all found their inner light to revive Tiga. The public gave off light, and the light became the giant known as Ultraman Tiga, who quickly revived the deceased Dyna. Tiga and Dyna then proceed to fight together and defeat Queen Monera.
Afterwards, Tiga and Dyna's light fade away together and they disappear. The entire Super GUTS reunite to celebrate their victory, as Iruma soon receives a visit later that day from Hikari Madoka along with Rena, Seiichi, Tetsuo & Horii. At the end, Mai recovers from the previous attack of the Deathfacer and flies to the moon with Asuka as a passenger.
During the credits, Munakata gives Iruma some roses, as the film comes to an end.
Appearances[]
Ultras[]
- Ultraman Dyna
- Flash Type
- Miracle Type
- Strong Type
- Ultraman Tiga
- Multi Type
Kaiju[]
Cast[]
- Shin Asuka : Takeshi Tsuruno
- Gousuke Hibiki : Ryo Kinomoto
- Toshiyuki Kohda : Toshikazu Fukawa
- Ryo Yumimura : Risa Saito
- Kouhei Kariya : Takao Kase
- Tsutomu Nakajima : Joe Onodera
- Mai Midorikawa : Mariya Yamada
- Kouki Fukami : Toshiaki Amada
- Seiji Miyata : Hiroshi Tsuburaya
- Kihachi Gondou : Shinobu Kameyama
- Saeko Shiina : Yasumi Maezawa
- Rui Kisaragi : Aya Sugimoto
- Megumi Iruma : Mio Takaki
- Seiichi Munakata : Akitoshi Otaki
- Masami Horii : Yukio Masuda
- Tetsuo Shinjoh : Shigeki Kagemaru
- Rena Madoka : Takami Yoshimoto
- Hikari Madoka : Mizuho Kanamori
- Susumu : Yosuke Mitsuhashi
- Young Person :
- Hiroki Ebata
- Naoki Takemura
- Rina Kidaka
- Middle-aged Man : Daizen Kondō
- Middle-aged Woman : Michiko Kodama
- Engineer : Takashi Tsuchiya
Voice Actors[]
- Ultraman Tiga : Yuji Machi
Suit Actors[]
- Ultraman Dyna : Keiji Hasegawa
- Ultraman Tiga : Shunsuke Gondo
- Geranda : Hisataka Kitaoka
- Deathfacer : Hiroyuki Okano
Staff[]
- Director and special effects director: Kazuya Konaka
- Screenwriter: Keiichi Hasegawa
- Head executive producer: Kazuo Tsuburaya
- Executive producers: Hajime Yuki, Shigeru Watanabe, Morihiro Kodama, Shohei Tomono, Makiji Minagawa, Tomoya Noda
- Planning: Kazuho Mitsuta, Fumio Samejima, Satoshi Azuma, Hiroo Takimoto, Tsuneyuki Enomoto, Toru Ogawa, Shinjiro Chida
- Supervisor: Koichi Takano
- Chief producer: Kiyoshi Suzuki
- Producers: Tsuyoshi Yoshida, Kazumi Kawashiro, Setsuro Tagami, Yoshihiko Marutani, Yoshimasa Mizuo, Seiji Ishikawa
- Music producer: Shizuka Tamagawa
- Music composer: Tatsumi Yano
- Cinematographer: Shinichi Ooka
- Art: Yuji Matsubara
- Lighting: Kazuo Takano
- Sound recording: Jin Tsurumaki
- Practical effects: Kenichi Ueda
- Assistant director: Shunji Shiromoto
- Action choreographer: Kunihide Kuruma
- Editor: Akira Matsuki
- Script supervisor: Kaoru Yamauchi
- Production manager: Yuji Doi
- Production cooperation producer: Nobuyuki Koyama
- Planning cooperation: Masato Oida, Naoyuki Eto, Satoshi Kono, Akihiro Sato, Hiroshi Morotomi, Minoru Ohno, Hirokazu Ige
- Backgrounds: Fuchimu Shimakura
- Character maintenance: Yasuyuki Fukui, Taku Ichikawa
- Second unit photography: Hitoshi Ishiwata
- CG coordinator: Miyoshi Matsuno
- Visual effects coordinator: Yuichi Abe
- Character and kaiju designer: Hiroshi Maruyama
- Image boards: Kenji Hashizume
- Title: Yukio Kumagai
- Casting: Minoru Ando
- Assistant producer: Hiroyasu Shibuya
- Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna Production Committee (Tsuburaya Productions, Shochiku, Bandai Visual, TBS, Mainichi Broadcasting System, Kodansha, Yomiuri Advertising)
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This film came out the same day as the Ultraman Dyna episode 27 "Monster Game".
- According to the testimony of Keiichi Hasegawa, the original purpose of the movie project was to feature both Ultraman Dyna and Ultraman Tiga together. From the beginning, the idea was to have Asuka meet Daigo Madoka, with the story unfolding as Daigo, who traveled through time from the Tiga era, transforms into Ultraman Tiga to help Dyna. However, due to Hiroshi Nagano, who played Daigo, being unavailable because of his schedule with V6, the story was altered. The theme shifted to focus on "Asuka's growth as a warrior," and Tiga became the manifestation of the "hope in people's hearts," offering a further explanation of the Ultraman Tiga TV series' final episode.[2][4]
- In the initial draft, the Kuriomos island was attacked by a different red Geranda, while Prometheus transformed into a mechanical lifeform named "Silver Bishop" (later renamed Genocyber ). During the decisive battle in the K3 area, Dyna faced off against Silver Bishop once more but unfortunately suffered defeat.[2]
- In his fading consciousness, Asuka hears the voice of his father... The scene then shifts to Ultraman Tiga’s era, specifically to the time when the Artdessei destroyed the mechanical island (around episode 20 "GUTS to the Sky Part 2"). Surrounded by brilliant light, the Artdessei appears in Dyna era and launches an assault on Silver Bishop. Daigo then transforms into Tiga, passing his light to Dyna, and the two heroes fight side by side.[2]
- Another initial proposal for the movie was to focus on the seven-year gap between the timelines of Ultraman Tiga and Ultraman Dyna. It would depict Kazuma Asuka transforming into an Ultraman and fighting in places unknown to humanity.
- A loose video game adaptation of this film, Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: New Generations, was released for the Sony PlayStation in Japan. It bore little relation to the film and was never released elsewhere in the world.
- The DVD cover, instead of showing Tiga in Multi Type, showed him in Power Type, even though Tiga never did use Power Type in the movie.
- The VHS, DVD (including the Memorial Box THE FINAL), and the Blu-ray BOX releases of the movie had the Dyna's rise scene (from the original 4:3 aspect ratio) stretched to fit the screen. The Hong Kong DVD release, however: features a cropped version of the rise scene.
- This movie was later featured in Ultraman Retsuden episodes 75-78.
External Links[]
- Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light at Shochiku's official website
- Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light at TBS's official website
References[]