It has been announced that a new special effects drama series, Ultraman Arc, will be produced and will be broadcast on TV Tokyo every Saturday at 9am starting July 6th. The previous series, Ultraman Blazar, was the first in the series' history to have a defense team captain as its protagonist, but the new series will have a rookie investigator who has just joined the Institute for Science Research in Disaster Prevention of Monsters (SKIP) as its protagonist. Newcomer actor Yuki Totsuka will play the lead character, Yuma Hize, a 23-year-old who transforms into Ultraman.
The theme of the new film is "The Power of Imagination," and Takanori Tsujimoto, who has participated as a director in the "New Generation Ultraman" series since "Ultraman X," will serve as the main director for the first time. Jun Tsugida, who worked with director Tsujimoto on the ``Ultraman'' series, will be in charge of the series composition and main script.
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There have been 27 "Ultraman" TV series in Japan, starting with "Ultra Q" in 1966 and ending with the previous "Ultraman Blazar." Including two works produced for overseas markets and later broadcast in Japan, this new work will be the 30th. Aiming to inspire children's dreams and build a bridge to a bright future full of hope, the series portrays a bright, heartfelt, and heroic hero. The main character, Yuma, is a lively young man with a rich imagination and a kind, straightforward personality who is loved by those around him. A messenger of light descends on Earth from a faraway galaxy and merges with Yuuma to become a giant Ultraman Ark, who protects the future of people and the Earth from the impending crisis.
Yuma transforms into Ultraman Ark by loading the mysterious transformation item, the Arc Ariser, into a hexagonal cube called the Ark Cube, which contains the power of the Messenger of Light. Ultraman Ark and the Arc Ariser look similar to the sketches of "The Ultimate Hero" and "Transformation Tool" that Yuma drew as a child.
Ultraman Ark is 48 meters tall and weighs 32,000 tons. Yuuma unleashes the power of his imagination, and appears as one with Rution, an emissary of light from a faraway galaxy. His special move is the Arc Finalize, which he unleashes by crossing his arms.
The new work will be released simultaneously in English dubbed version, and will also be broadcast and released simultaneously in local languages in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. It will also be released simultaneously on streaming sites including the official Ultraman YouTube channel with subtitles in 11 languages including English and Korean.