Last weekend, Stage 107’s theatre in Shinjuku held a rather unique Ultraman stage show that featured no fighting, returns of characters or anything to do with the Ultra universe. However, it starred Ultra Seven’s Kohji Moritsugu,Ultra Galaxy’s Shota Minami(pictured above) and a mix of other shows’ actors.
The show, entitled Loneliness of an Earthling, feat. Ultra Seven ran for a total of five nights, with a matinee during the day. We were invited down to the last show of the run, located in the heart of Shinjuku. Greeting us at the door was a member of the staff in a full Terrestrial Defense Force uniform and a mannequin of Ultra Seven himself.
The full cast list is as follows – Ultra Seven’s Kohji Moritsugu, Ultra Galaxy’s Shota Minami, Ultraman Mebuis’ Misato Hirata, Ultraman Gaias’ Takao Kase, Ultraman Tigas’ Otaki Akitoshi, Ultraman Dynas’ Takao Kase and the star of the show, Ultraman Cosmos’ Kazami Shingo.
The auditorium was already bustling with 200 seats full, and the set was lit up, giving us a glimpse of what the radio station show was about. Before the show even officially started, stage show regular Ultraman Nice walked out and greeted the crowd with gratitude. He did impressions of other Ultras, asking people to guess which they were. As with all of these productions, he asked politely that no photography be done during the performance, allowing only 5 seconds for the crowd to take photos, leading to everyone rushing to get their cameras out. “Oh? Do you want more? Okay, you can have another ten, he joked.
Ultraman Nice said his goodbyes and made his exit. The lights faded down and they projected the opening sequence to the Ultra Seven series to gleeful giggles of the 40-year-old-plus ladies sitting next to me. Afterward, the show began with Shingo waking up on the morning of his daughter’s wedding in the radio station, the cast coming in one by one to constantly delay his plans to leave. Kohji Moritsugu, as a security guard, comes in and Shingo asks that they play the opening song to Ultra Seven during today’s show as it was his favorite hero growing up, whose adventures he used to watch with his daughter. Moritsugu starts to sing the theme song and when asked if he knows it, “No, not really.” I knew we were in for a lot of funny self-referencing humor.
The cast throughout jest with Shingo about him liking Ultra Seven still, to which Shota Minami pulls out an Ultra Galaxy calender and puts the opening CD on. He remarks that in “the shows nowadays, the main actors are all just pretty boys,” the lights cut out and a spotlight shines on his and he winks to the audience. During the penultimate scene, Hirata grabs a small circular table and with the assistance of a black clothed stage hand, throws it like UltraSeven’s Eye Slugger, knocking out the manager, Akitoshi.
While the show did have its comical moments, the plot was clearly only for adult fans. Shingo reads a fan letter that Shota asked him to shred, wicho asks that the station play his childhood hero’s theme song, Ultra Seven, as his dying wish as he was going to commit suicide after years of bullying and having confidence issues. The revelation splits the cast, unable to decide whether to read the letter on air along with the song. After much arguing, they decide to be heroes for the day and agree to do it, but try to keep it from Akitoshi, who is completely against the idea. After a blow to the head from the Eye Slugger attack, he agrees to let them do it.
Finally, Shingo and Moritsugu talked about today’s events and asked what his name was, to which he replied “Dan Moroboshi“. They both smiled and he walked off with his newly wed daughter. Moritsugu walked into the center of the stage and sat down at the small table, when Alien Metron appeared declaring that he wanted to fight. Moritsugu said he was too tired today and asked if they could just relax, so Alien Metron got down, re-enacting the famous scene from the show.
After the show I was lucky enough to be invited backstage to meet some of the cast and take the photo at the top of the article. I will 100% admit to choking when meeting Kohji Moritsugu to which I only managed to squeak out a “Hello!,” but come on, it was freaking Ultra Seven.
