The cast of MEGA MONSTER BATTLE: ULTRA GALAXY with Ultraman Belial, Gomora, and Ultraman Zero. Photo by Jim M. BallardExclusive Photos From The Premiere Of The New Ultraman Movie Author: Jim M. Ballard Official Movie Site: Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy
Ultraman Zero throws a punch at Ultraman Belial! Photo by Jim M. BallardThe official premiere of the latest Ultraman movie MEGA MONSTER BATTLE: ULTRA GALAXY (Daikaiju Battoru Urutora Ginga Densetsu The Movie) was held today in Kawasaki. Prior to the screening, a special Ultra hero stage show was held in an event space at the centre of the Lazona Plaza shopping mall, where up to 500 Ultraman masks were freely distributed to members of the audience. The show started at 2.00pm with an introduction by Ultraman Dyna, star of the 1997 TV series of the same name, who also features prominently in the new movie. Following the introduction by Dyna, the classic foe Zetton attacked the stage, but was soon thwarted with the timely arrival of the original Ultraman and Ultra Seven! The two heroes were then joined on stage by the main cast of the ZAP SPACY crew; Shota Minami (Rei), Hiroyuki Konishi ("Boss" Hyuga), Mitsutoshi Shundo (Kumano), Saki Kamiryo (Haruna) and Toru Hachinohe (Oki), shortly followed by voice actors Mamoru Miyano (Ultraman Zero), Hiroyuki Miyasako (Ultraman Belial) and Taiyo Kawashita (Alien Shaplay), as well as original Ultraman actor Susumu Kurobe (Hayata).
Top-left: Ultraman Dyna introduces the event. Top-right: Ultraman and Ultra Seven face off against Zetton. Bottom-left: Ultraman Belial takes the stage! Bottom-right: Ultraman Belial and Ultraman Zero with the 3m Gomora. All photos by Jim M. Ballard
Ultraman, Ultraman Zero and Ultra Seven join director Koichi Sakamoto and cast. Photo by Jim M. BallardThe movie`s new hero Ultraman Zero and villain Ultraman Belial also provided a stage battle, with live voice-overs performed by actors Mamoru Miyano and Hiroyuki Miyasako. Toward the end of the event, an impressive 3 meter tall promotional suit of the movie`s leading monster Gomora took to the stage. When the stage show finally finished at 2.30pm, the villainous Ultraman Belial had a momentary change of heart as he aided the over-sized monster depart from the stage. Before and after the stage event, a large screen in the plaza played several new trailers for the movie, for the first time featuring tracks from Mike Verta`s original score. The screening of the movie took place from 4.00pm at the 109 Cinema, with an audience of just under 350. The main cast appeared once again for a half-hour introduction, this time alongside the film`s director Koichi Sakamoto. MEGA MONSTER BATTLE: ULTRA GALAXY opens to theatres nationwide in Japan on December 12th.
Left-to-right top-to-bottom: Shota Minami (Rei), Susumu Kurobe (Hayata), Mamoru Miyano (voice of Ultraman Zero), Hiroyuki Miyasako (voice of Ultraman Belial), Saki Kamiryo (Haruna), Mitsutoshi Shundo (Kumano), Hiroyuki Konishi (For more photos and information on MEGA MONSTER BATTLE: ULTRA GALAXY please see the earlier coverage here on SciFi Japan: