Shin Ultraman

Shin Ultraman is a 2022 Japanese superhero kaiju film directed by Shinji Higuchi and written, co-produced, and co-edited by Hideaki Anno of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The film is a co-production between Toho Studios and Cine Bazar, presented by Tsuburaya Productions, Toho Co., Ltd., and Khara, Inc. - it is the 37th film in the Ultraman franchise and a reimagining of the original Ultraman (and the second such reboot of a tokusatsu series done by Anno and Higuchi after Shin Godzilla). Shin Ultraman was theatrically released in Japan on May 13, 2022; it premiered in the United States at the 21st New York Asian Film Festival on July 23, 2022, and will be released to theaters nationwide on January 11 and 12, 2023.

Following the invasion of several giant lifeforms known as kaiju, the Japanese government establish the S-Class Species Suppression Protocol to eliminate further threats. As the SSSP addresses the attack of the kaiju Neronga in Hatsukaichi, an extraterrestrial being arrives on Earth, with the explosive impact almost killing a nearby child; SSSP member Shinji Kaminaga gives his life to rescue the child from the explosion. The extraterrestrial opts to take his appearance and place, leaving the real Kaminaga's body in the forest where he died. Dubbed "Ultraman", the giant humanoid alien manifests and holds off the rampaging kaiju, powering through the energy of its electric beams and annihilating the monster with a Spacium Beam. As he "fuses" with Kaminaga and takes on his life, Ultraman tries to bond with recently-hired SSSP analyst Hiroko Asami, who is unaware of the original Kaminaga's fate.

Shin Ultraman was the result of Hideaki being tasked with a proposal for a trilogy of Ultraman productions by Takayuki Tsukagoshi, the future chairman of Tsuburaya Productions, back in 2017. He would complete the plan for the trilogy on January 17, 2018 and write the first draft of the Shin Ultraman screenplay in February 2019; his actual participation in the film had to be deferred until the completion of Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time. The film's production was announced on August 1, 2019, with principal photography taking place during fall of that same year and wrapping in November; post-production was decelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and editing took roughly two-and-a-half years, with the pandemic causing it to miss the initial release period of early summer 2021 as well.

Shin Ultraman's release was initially met with mixed reviews, but became the highest-grossing Japanese live-action film of 2022 at the time (until the release Kingdom 2: To Distant Lands) and grossed ¥4.38 billion ($31.2 million) at the box office, becoming the most commercially successful film in the Ultraman franchise. The film received generally positive reviews from critics internationally, with praise for its ambition, direction, characters, editing, cinematography, visual effects, musical score, and action sequences, but criticism towards its structure relying too heavily on connections to older Ultraman fare and a lack of the pointed criticism of the Japanese government that defined Shin Godzilla.

Tsuburaya Productions launched Shin Ultra Fight, a spin-off web miniseries featuring stock footage from the film as well as entirely new footage on May 14, 2022.


 * Affably Evil: tend towards the formal and polite when dealing with the humans they plan to exploit.
 * Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Beyond the usual Kaiju and Ultraman himself, Asami ends up mind-controlled into getting this treatment via Beta Capsule technology so that can show off its capabilities.
 * Blue and Orange Morality: Demonstrated by, who in their own ways consider humanity to be insignificant on the scale of their own existence as long-lived, powerful cosmic beings.
 * Death Equals Redemption: A subversion of this ends up being the overall arc of the film.
 * Despair Event Horizon: One of the SSSP officers nearly crosses this at the sheer prospect of having to continue life as normal knowing that
 * Half the Man He Used To Be: Ultraman finishes off with an "Ultra Slash" that bisects him vertically.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: This ends up happening three times - once with Kaminaga, then twice with Ultraman.
 * Humans Are Flawed: From the middle of the film on, this is the perspective of two major characters,
 * Humans Are Special: Towards the end of the film, this is revealed to be the conclusion that comes to.
 * Kaiju: The film explicitly refers to the ailen monsters that've terrorized Japan (and specifically Japan, as one Japanese government member laments) by this term.
 * Mythology Gag: Naturally, as several legacy monsters and villains feature in the movie.
 * The similarities between the first few Kaiju are pointed out by the SSSP; the low budget of the original Ultraman show often necessitated the reuse of multiple costume parts from each Monster of the Week, which gave them a Mix-and-Match Critter sort of feel.
 * Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right: When informs him that sharing his life force with a human is forbidden under the law of his home planet, Ultraman remains defiant and seeks to protect humanity as much as he can.