It has been revealed that actor Koichiro Nishi, known for his role as AbaRed / Ryoga Hakua in Super Sentai series "Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger", will appear in the new special effects drama "Ultraman Arc" in the "Ultraman" series. Nishi will play Hiroshi Ban, the director of the Hoshimoto City branch of the Monster Disaster Prevention Science Research Institute SKIP, where the main character Yuma Hize (played by Yuki Totsuka) is affiliated.
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Hiroshi Ban, played by Nishi, was fascinated with dinosaurs as a child, and his love for them led him to dig up fossils, conduct research, and study, eventually leading him to study geology. He joined SKIP to put his knowledge to use to help others. Although he gets carried away when talking about his field, he is also a reliable leader who is friendly and can give precise instructions, and sometimes makes surprisingly bold decisions. He is a good father who cooks for his family on holidays, but is always worried about his only daughter, who is at an impressionable age.
Nishi commented, "Hello to all Ultraman fans across the nation. I am Koichiro Nishi, who plays Hiroshi Ban, director of SKIP Hoshimoto City Branch. In my career as an actor, I have had the opportunity to take part in many special effects productions, but I never dreamed that I would be able to appear as a regular in Ultraman. I will do my utmost to make this an Ultraman production that children will love. It will also be wildly explosive in the Ultraman world, so let's all join together in making 'Ultraman Arc' exciting!"
The theme of the new work "Ultraman Arc" is "The Power of Imagination." The protagonist, Yuma Hize, a rookie researcher who has just joined the Institute for Scientific Research on Monsters and Disaster Prevention (SKIP), becomes one with a messenger of light who descends to Earth from a faraway galaxy, becoming a giant Ultraman Arc and protecting the future of humans and the Earth from an impending crisis. 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, and Jun Tsugita, who has teamed up with Tsujimoto on the "Ultraman" series, will be in charge of series composition and main scriptwriting. New actor Yuki Totsuka will play Tobise Yuuma.
It will be broadcast on TV Tokyo every Saturday at 9:00 a.m. starting July 6th.