――Director Ichino, this "ULTRAMAN TAIGA" is the first main director's work in Ultraman Series.

I agree. Since I was born in 1962, I am also the first generation monster boom direct hit generation. If anything, I liked monsters and aliens more than heroes, and soft vinyl also had only monsters. When I was the main director of this film, I was asked, “What do you want to do?”, “I want to build the origin of the monster” and “Contact with aliens” "I want to draw properly". Of course, there are dramas with humans, so I think it's a lot of content every time.

――What are your thoughts on this product?

I borrowed 3D scan data of suits and masks from LSS (Tsuburaya Productions 's modeling department = Light Sculpture Studio) and made fine adjustments, so I feel that it has the same shape as the taiga we took. There is no discomfort at all, including the face. It is painted tightly up to the back, and it is good that the sharp points are reproduced with sharp points. Being the main director, I'm involved in the design from the examination stage, and even in the main story, I often shoot episodes centered on taiga, and since it is a character like my own child who infused various things, I have a special feeling after all. There is. It's cute (laughs).

-How about reproducibility of action?

Like playing Taro Yuzuri's swallow kick from the first episode, Taiga is conscious of being an Ultraman with a brilliant kick. This figure has a soft hip joint, so it can be reproduced. The protector is also made of a slightly soft material like a suit. This part shouldn't be too hard to interfere with the action, it shouldn't be too soft to lift up from the suit, or it shouldn't be too noticeable to bend, so I carefully verified it even after the suit was completed. remember. The torso is also movable, so you can move your chest and hips a lot, and even cross-legged. It's amazing. If this happens at the time of shooting, you may not notice it if you shoot it well even if you put it on the desk as an image body. Anyway, the video processing will be done later, so I think the quality is such that it may be said "This is fine!".

-The image body is the taigas like the translucent fairies that appear in the play.

I think that is one of the inventions in this work. I came up with the last episode of Episode 1 when I filmed a scene of seeing her mother and child together with Hiroyuki. In the script, Taiga was supposed to hear only voice, but it was a story that it would be better to be sideways, and to stand as an `` image body '' that can not be seen by others but visible to Hiroyuki I came up with. Because it is an image, the size can be changed flexibly. Taiga, Titus, and Huma that cannot be transformed at the same time can be arranged side by side. Three people can be messed up. Since it is an all-GB (green back), you have to put a green box to match the unevenness of the office, and the number of synthetic cuts increases, so shooting is difficult. However, it seems that each director and viewers enjoy themselves, so for me, I feel that it worked.

――Why can you use these figures to explain to the staff at the shooting site?

I think it's probably ULTRA-ACT, but there was a Mobius and Hikari figure on the scene, and I used it when I had a meeting. Because you can add poses and movements that can't be done with soft vinyl, it is useful to explain that this is the situation. Also, I think it would be nice to have a storyboard. For example, when you want to draw a kneeling pose from the back side, you can't see the back even if you pose yourself, and there may not be a person who conveniently becomes a model nearby. I thought it would be helpful to have one of these things, but I didn't have it so far, so I would buy one when it was released (laughs).

--Are there any characters you would like to see commercialized with SHFiguarts?

I like monsters, so my first choice would be the combined monster Zeppendon from "Ultraman Orb". Because it is operated by a juggler, it has a very human-like movement, and I really like its shape. I put a lot of thought into this monster, so if you release it in this series, I would buy it immediately regardless of the price. ZETTON I would love to have three in a row, with Pandong, Zeppandong, and Pangdong (laughs). Other monsters in the series include Zegan, the God of Time and Space Destruction from "Ultraman Geed", and Gigadelos, the Planet Guardian God from "Taiga". I know it's a lot of "gods" (laughs), but I think the silhouette of Gigaderos would also be suitable for S.H.Figuarts. Helveros, the deadliest beast in the first episode of "Taiga," also has a good face, and I like all the monsters I was involved with from the design stage. They are out in soft vinyl, but I would like to have them at S.H.Figuarts.

――Please give me a message for this commercialization.

After all, "Ultraman beside you!" (Laughs). As an image body, I want to be in that area of the room. It has the mobility to take various poses, so it's fun to sit or hang around your desk in an interesting pose or put it in your own posture. I think it is a good item as such an interior accessory. Ultraman in everyday life. You can really feel like you are living with your image body. I will let you play like that. I hope everyone enjoys it like that.

――The TV series is finally in a good state.

At the end of the game, the story-complete style continues until the last minute, and the last two episodes dawn! It will feel like coming. The main theme is what happens when the coexistence with aliens, which has been the theme for a long time, and what happens when they settle there, but at the end, a little surprising development of "Will it come!" I think it will be. Final boss to defeat it came out a large Dan yen while delicately remove the theory that, until now many things is that has accumulated much in the story of "Oh, things like that either!" Will be a pleasant recovery. All the staff are working hard to make such a final round.

-I look forward to on-air. Thank you for today.