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Evangelion Director Hideaki Anno Gets His Own Figure … as Ultraman

The online shop Premium Bandai presented the Ultimate Luminous figure set for the celebrated fan film short "Daicon Film's Return of Ultraman" on Wednesday. The set will feature the space hero Ultraman (as portrayed by Daicon Film co-founder and future Evangelion director Hideaki Anno himself) and the Bug Jewel monster. Bandai used the short's original production materials and statements from its staff to create the figures.

Ultimate Luminous is Bandai's line of Gashapon prize machine figures which light up if you insert a miniature Luminous Unit device. (The "Daicon Film's Return of Ultraman" set includes two Luminous Units plus interchangeable arm parts to change Ultraman's pose.) Premium Bandai is accepting pre-orders for the set for 14,300 yen (about US$92) before it ships next March.

"Daicon Film's Return of Ultraman" is a parody film of the classic 1971-72 tokusatsu (special-effects) series Return of Ultraman that premiered at the 1983 Nihon SF Taikai science fiction convention (better known as DIACON VI). Anno helmed the short while he was still in college and portrayed the titular Ultraman onscreen. Fellow future Gainax co-founder Toshio Okada wrote the story, and Yasuhiro Takeda and Takeshi Sawamura produced the short. Nearly four decades later, Anno helmed the 2022 Ultraman feature film Shin Ultraman.

Sources: Premium Bandai, Mantan Web